Seceding Link
by Somebody's Dark Angel
Summary: “Hey, this is Daddy. Daddy…” he sat down in a chair beside his wife’s bed, showing the baby to her...And it was Seth who allowed her to find herself, who loved Summer Jordan Cohen for her, not his idealistic version of her. COMPLETE
1. Seceding Link

**Seceding Link**

By Somebody's Angel

"You know, for the record…the boat was named after you."

The corners of my lips turned up slightly at Seth's revelation, flattered and scared at the same time. For him to have named the boat after me meant that his feelings for me went deeper than I had imagined, and the fact that he had gotten it for his twelfth birthday meant those feelings had existed long before I had any semblance of similar feelings for him.

As I watched him watch the grass I wished I had the courage to stay. To sit beside him and take him in my arms in an attempt to comfort him, even though I knew it wouldn't help. To tell him that I knew I would never replace Ryan as his best friend, but that I would try my damndest to try and make things better for him. To tell him that when he was ready we could both go say goodbye to Ryan, and that I would be there for him while he dealt with the pain of his brother's leaving. I had tried to convey this before, but I knew that Seth's usual perceptiveness was a tad skewed and he hadn't understood what I was trying to say. And I didn't have enough courage to say the words out loud.

So I walked away.

I gave Ryan the message and left him and Marissa alone to deal with whatever was going to happen between the two of them. As much as I loved Marissa, sometimes I wished she wasn't so annoying – all she was doing was crying silently and holding tightly onto Ryan, no thought to what Ryan himself was going through.

I watched Mr Nichol on the dancefloor as he danced with his new wife, then his two daughters, then his new stepdaughter Caitlin. I watched Julie watch her new husband, her eyes twinkling, but I knew the twinkle came more from the size of his wallet rather than the man himself. _She really is just a gold-digger,_ I thought. I watched Mrs Cohen – _Kirsten_, I mentally reprimanded myself for addressing her so formally, even if it was in my head – watch Marissa and Ryan dance, and could almost feel the sympathy she was feeling. I watched Mr Co-Sandy as he held his wife close, knowing what she was feeling without her having to express the words, and wished that someday I would find someone who knew me that well, who loved me that much even after decades together.

Watching Seth's parents made me think of Seth, and I wondered if he and I would ever be like that – hopelessly in love and able to know what the other is thinking – and I knew the only thing holding him back from declaring the full extent of his feelings for me was me. My 'bad girl' reputation had frightened him into insecurity over my feelings; the problem was that I myself didn't know what my own feelings were exactly. I knew that I cared for him, more than I had ever cared for anyone, but was that love?

A hand on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts and I looked up to find Mr Cooper looking down at me.

"May I have this dance?" He asked, holding his hand out for me to take.

I smiled, but I knew it was only a contortion of facial muscles with no emotion behind it. I took his hand and allowed him to pull me to my feet and lead me to the dance floor.

He stiffly put a hand on my waist and began to lead me slowly. I remained silent and unemotional, and it was only when I realised he was speaking that I looked at his face.

"…it's going to be ok you know." He was saying, and I knew he was just trying to make me feel better. "Just because Ryan's going back to Chino doesn't mean he's leaving forever." I was surprised he knew about Ryan's leaving, and supposed Marissa or Mr Cohen must have told him.

"I know." My words were so soft I barely heard them, but Mr Cooper must have read my lips because he seemed to understand. "I just wish I could make them understand that." I didn't have to elaborate on who the 'them' was, he had seen me watching Ryan and Marissa on the dancefloor.

"You're going to have to let them figure that out on their own," was his response, and we both fell silent.

In the break between songs Mr Cooper and Mr Cohen switched partners so I was dancing with Mr Co-Sandy and Mr Cooper was dancing with Mrs-Kirsten. I was still having trouble remembering to call them by their first names as they had insisted, and I knew it would be a long time before I did so to their faces; the one time I had called Mr Cohen 'Sandy' was in front of Anna, and it was merely to show her up, not because I was in any way comfortable doing so; my father's instilled dogmas forbade me from calling any adult by their first name unless we were related. _If Cohen and I ever get married they'll be mom and dad,_ the random thought popped into my head and I blinked it away. Aside from the fact that the mere thought of marriage scared the hell out of me, it was _way_ too soon in our relationship to be thinking about those kinds of commitments.

I shook my head slightly to erase the frightening thoughts, eliciting a bemused glance from Mr Cohen. I gave him a slight smile to show that everything was all right…except it wasn't really.

"Seth's worried." His voice was quiet, audible only to me.

I looked up at him questioningly. "About what?"

"You." Was the simple answer.

"Me? Why would he be worried about me? Ryan's leaving and both he and Marissa are all depressed – I'm worried about _him_. I'm worried Marissa's gonna go into a downward spiral now that the 'love of her life' is not gonna be around 24/7. I'm worried that Cohen-Seth's gonna hole himself up in his room and ignore everyone for the entire summer. I-" I realised I was rambling and quickly stopped myself. "I think I've been spending too much time with Cohen." I mumbled.

"His babbling is contagious." Mr Cohen agreed with me. He ignored the content of my ramblings and answered my question, "He's worried that you're going to break up with him."

"But why…" I trailed off, knowing it would do no good to ask Seth's father the question I should be asking the boy himself.

Mr Cohen nodded, "That question can only be answered by Seth." We fell silent, listening to the lyrics of the song we were dancing to.

When the song ended I thanked both adults for the dances and excused myself in search of Marissa.

I found her in the first place I looked. That was how well we knew one another…or at least how well I knew her. I doubt she would have been able to find me if I had been hiding, no matter how hard she searched…that was the discrepancy in our relationship; I knew almost everything about her, while she only knew part of my life, the part I was comfortable with sharing. Ever since my parents' divorce I hadn't let anyone get to know the real me, at least not all of the real me. Seth and Marissa had seen some parts, different parts, but never the whole fucked-up package that was Summer Jordan Roberts.

Marissa was at the bar, downing vodka-and-Cokes. From her eyes I could tell she was well on the way to becoming completely smashed.She didn't know any other way to handle the kind of feelings she was having at the moment. Not only was her mother now the most powerful woman in Newport, her boyfriend was leaving town to live with another girl who may or may not be having his child. I had to admit, if I was Marissa I probably would have been throwing back vodkas too. Nevertheless, I knew I had to at least try to keep her sober.

"I think you've had enough, Coop." I said gently, prying her hand off the glass.

"No." She fumbled for the glass, tipping it over and spilling its contents on the bar. We both watched as the brown, almost black, liquid travelled slowly to the edge of the bar and off onto the grass.

"Coop, come on." I tugged her arm, and succeeded in turning her towards me, but she resisted actually moving her feet.

"Sum. I can't." He words were simple, but I instinctively knew what she meant. She couldn't face her mother and Mr Nichol in their just-married 'bliss'. She couldn't face Ryan, knowing that he was leaving in a few short hours. She couldn't face Seth after he had blamed her for everything related to Ryan's leaving. She couldn't face her father, so happy with her new step-father's daughter. The only way she knew how to cope, how to deal, was to drink it all away. I knew from experience that while alcohol did make you forget, the memories came back once the hangover faded. Apparently Marissa still hadn't learnt that lesson.

"'k we don't have to go back to the party. How bout we go home?" I asked, tugging her arm again. This time I succeeded in making her take a few steps. She could still walk – albeit slightly wobbly – that meant she hadn't yet gotten to the completely incoherent stage of drunkenness.

"Home." Marissa mumbled. "Dun wanna go _home_." She practically spat the word out and, for the first time, I realised exactly how much Marissa loved her father. She had basically given up her freedom to save her father. Moving in with the newlyweds would be no less than hell, yet Marissa had done so to allow her father a new start. I doubted I would ever do that for my own father, despite how much I loved him.

"Let's go to mine then. OK?" I didn't wait for a response, pulling Marissa towards the parking lot.

"Wait." Marissa extracted her arm from my grip and turned back to the party. "Wanna see Ryan."

"Ryan? But you just said…" Marissa didn't seem to hear me, so I gave up and followed her back to the party. Drunk-Marissa often did this; said one thing then did a complete 180 ten seconds later. During a party in eighth grade she and I had fought and Marissa had stormed off vowing never to speak to me again, only to come back and kiss me five minutes later. _Can't let Cohen find out that Coop and I made out, he'd either get freaked out or want to watch us do it again…would have never happened if we weren't completely smashed…what is it about guys and lesbians anyway? What's so damn fascinating about being unwanted by the opposite sex? Except if the girls aren't really lesbians, only drunk, coz drunk girls might be persuaded into a threesome – every man's fantasy._ I shook away the disturbing thought of threesomes and cursed Seth yet again for his contagious rambling habits – I was even doing it in my head now.

I sat down on a chair and watched the adults dancing and talking. Mr Cooper was now dancing with Caitlin, while Hailey watched. Funny, I never had any problem calling Hailey by her first name…maybe it was because she never acted like an adult – in some ways she was more of a teenager than we were. I reckon Hailey and Mr Cooper make a good couple; they balanced each other out, with Hailey's wild side being tamed and Mr Cooper's straight-laced side becoming a lot looser. I could totally see them walking down the aisle next. If they did that the Cohen-Cooper-Nichol clan would be completely intertwined and Seth would have a field day trying to figure out the relationships. He had enough fun with the 'Julie-Caleb union', as he called it, and I could just imagine what he would do if Marissa became his step-cousin as well as his step-aunt. And then it would be even more screwed up if Marissa ever married Ryan. And I'd be the only one not related by birth or a piece of paper…then again, that could change if I married Seth. _And again with the marriage thoughts!_ My inner voice scolded me, and I mentally shut and locked the door on those thoughts…again.

Seth was back at the party, dancing with his mother. His heart wasn't in it though, and I knew he was only participating to keep his mother happy. No-one wanted to get on Kirsten Cohen's bad side. I watched as he moved to the music, and was startled by the resemblance I saw between mother and son. I had noticed Seth's resemblance to his father before – the hair and the mouth and the ears – but I had never looked at Seth and Mrs Cohen side-by-side before…they had the same eyes. Not the same colour, but the same shape and expressiveness. Seth had also inherited his mother's slim build, although his height was closer to that of his father. I watched and realised it wouldn't be long before I lifted the sex-ban…he was just too damn hot. And what made him even hotter was that he didn't know how attractive he was – aside from joking around about being a 'stud', he had always seen himself as a dork, a loser. I was embarrassed to admit that until this year I had seen him the same way – as someone not worthy of my time. But now I realised that it hadn't been because of his looks, it had been because of his reputation. I was pretty sure he had looked this attractive for a while now, I had just never realised it until lately.

The song must have ended, because Seth's voice startled me out of my thoughts. "…to dance?"

I smiled up at him and took his outstretched hand. He led me to the dancefloor and pulled me close, trapping our intertwined fingers between our bodies. I wrapped my other arm around him and lay my head on his shoulder. We didn't say anything, just enjoyed the physical closeness that said more than words ever could. I listened to the lyrics of the song and was amazed at how well they related to me and my feelings for Seth. It was if I had written it.

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time  
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you  
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time  
And hung me on a line  
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you_

_Maybe I'm a girl and maybe I'm a lonely girl  
Who's in the middle of something  
That she doesn't really understand_

I didn't understand what was going on inside my head and my heart. My head was screaming for me to get out, get away, not get too close. But in my heart I knew I was already too close, and that I could never leave. These feelings were different from the feelings I had for my father, and Marissa, and everyone else I had ever cared about. Not only were they stronger, but I had never felt so…complete with someone. With Seth I felt like I could be whoever I wanted to be, and I didn't have to hide behind my 'Newport bitch' mask. I could be myself…not that I knew who that was.

_Maybe I'm a girl and maybe you're the only man  
Who could ever help me  
Baby, won't you help me understand_

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time  
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you  
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song  
Right me when I'm wrong  
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you_

As the song drew to a close I realised how much I needed Seth in my life and held him even tighter. Everyone else I had ever cared about had left me, either physically or emotionally, and I trusted Seth not to do the same. He was always so concerned about other people, like when he tried to sell his boat so he could give the money to Ryan for Teresa. That was so sweet of him, especially since I know how much he loves that boat.

I pulled back to look him in the eyes, and there was so much love and sadness in those chocolate orbs that I just had to kiss him. His lips were soft and pliant under mine, but he resisted my attempts to deepen the kiss. I pulled away and realised he was right; the dancefloor really wasn't the place for a make out session.

We walked to a table and sat down. I pulled my chair as close to Seth's as I could, and rested my head on his shoulder. Marissa and Ryan joined us, adopting the same positions as Seth and I. I looked over at another table and saw Seth's parents watching us; they looked as sad as I felt.

The four of us sat there in silence, watching the other guests moving around, dancing and talking. The daylight slowly dimmed and as it grew darker the crowd thinned out until finally there was only the Cohen-Cooper-Nichol clan, Ryan and myself.

Ryan checked his watch, "It's almost 5:30, I have to get home and finish packing." They weren't the greatest words to break the silence, but they did nevertheless, and not one of us missed the significance of Ryan's use of 'home'. It emphasised, to me at least, that he really didn't want to do this, but felt that it was his duty. He always did have a 'hero' complex – he was always looking for someone to save. Marissa, his mom, Luke, now Teresa.

We got to our feet and I moved to hug Ryan. "I'll miss you, Ryan." I said simply when we pulled apart, and he looked shocked at my use of his name. "And thanks." I didn't have to explain what for, he knew. Thanks for helping Marissa, thanks for bringing Seth out of his shell, thanks for forcing me to look past people's reputations.

Taking Seth's hand I led him away, leaving Marissa and Ryan to say their own private farewell.

We walked to the carpark and stopped next to my silver BMW convertible. I leaned against the driver's door, pulling Seth to stand in front of me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and looked up at him. He was far away, and barely registered what I was doing.

"Hey." I said softly, breaking him out of his thoughts. He smiled slightly and enclosed me in his arms, holding me tightly. "It really will be OK." I briefly contemplated asking him why he was worried I was going to break up with him, but decided that now was not the time.

"I know," was Seth's response. I don't think I've ever seen him this quiet, and it's kinda scary. Seth always has something to say, even if it's mindless chatter intended only to fill a silence. His lack of words told me that he was hurting even more than he was letting on.

"Do you want to come over for a while?" I asked, even though I knew he would reply in the negative.

"I have to say goodbye to Ryan." Again his answer was short, simple and to the point; three things I had never before associated with Seth.

"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" I said and lay my head on his chest. He didn't reply verbally, but I felt his chin move as he nodded.

We stayed like that for a few more minutes before Seth slackened his grip, then released me. He stood in front of me, seemingly at a loss as to how to say goodbye, as if I was the one leaving town. I took his face in my hands and brought his head level with my own, pecking him twice before capturing his lips in a longer, more passionate kiss. He responded in kind, and neither of us pulled away until we were both gasping for breath.

"I l-" Seth caught himself before he could say the words, and all I could do was look at him sadly. We both knew what he was about to say, and we both knew why he had stopped. He wouldn't say it until he was sure I would say it back.

I pecked him on the lips again, before getting into my car. Seth motioned for me to wind down the window and I did so, even though the hood was down.

He leaned on the door and traced my face with a finger slowly, almost as if he was memorising the contours. I didn't pull away, or ask why, merely giving him a smile, the one I reserved for him. He smiled back, and moved away from the car.

I started it, and drove away, watching Seth's lone figure in the rearview mirror until I turned the corner and could no longer see him.

* * *

Not sure if I should turn this into an alt. ending to Ties That Bind or Summer's POV over the summer that Seth's away…which will show her transformation into the bitter person she is in the S2 premiere…your opinions?

And yes I know that the song _Maybe I'm Amazed_ was used in the episode at the beginning of the reception, but I wanted to use it later too, coz I really feel that it expresses Summer's thoughts/feelings.


	2. At The Water's Edge

**Seceding Link**

**Ch 2: At The Water's Edge**

By Somebody's Angel

* * *

I drove on autopilot, not realising where I was going until I had parked the car. I had ended up at the marina and I instantly knew why my subconscious had taken me there.

I walked down the wharf until I reached the boat. It rocked gently on the swell, bumping into the edge of the wharf every so often. I slipped off my heels and cautiously stepped down onto the blue canvas stretching between the two hulls. I sat down and absently trailed my hand through the water before moving it up to the side of the hull. I traced the blue cursive letters with a finger – _Summer Breeze_ – feeling a chill run through me as I again realised Seth's feelings for me.

I remembered the previous night, when Seth, Marissa, Ryan and I had escaped from the rehearsal dinner, ending up on the beach.

_FLASHBACK_

"I think…I need to go back." Seth's arms instantly tightened around me as Ryan spoke, and I stroked his hand reassuringly. "I can't let Teresa do this by herself. I'm leaving."

I looked down at the wooden railing we were leaning on, feeling Seth's breath moving my hair. In that moment I felt nothing. My mind was furiously trying to process the implications of Ryan's words, while my body was relishing the warmth of both Seth's jacket and his arms surrounding me.

We stood there, light wind blowing our hair and clothes, for what seemed like hours. Yet when I checked Seth's watch I saw that it had only been about twenty minutes since we'd left the Cohen house.

Marissa hopped off the railing and took Ryan's hand, slowly leading him down the walkway and away from Seth and I.

I turned in Seth's arms and looked into his eyes. They were blank, and I was sure he was just as shocked as I was.

"C'mon," I said softly, grasping his hand tightly as I pushed him away so I could move. He resisted for a moment before moving, then let go of my hand and draping his arm around my shoulders. I wrapped my own arm around his waist, sensing that he needed the contact, and we made our way back toward the Cohen house.

I stayed with Seth that night; his parents were too concerned with the upcoming nuptials to notice, and Seth needed the companionship.

We stood in the middle of his room, holding one another much like we had when we danced four months ago on Valentine's Day, except this time there was no music and neither of us were what you would describe as happy.

He pulled back slightly, looking into my eyes as he ran his thumb over my cheek, cupping my face in his hands and just looking at me.

"Summer," he said hoarsely.

"Not now," I whispered, pushing off his jacket and letting it fall into the floor.

I pulled off his shirt and took his hand, leading him over to the edge of the bed. He just watched silently as I undid his belt, then sat him down on the bed and took off his shoes and socks. He kicked his pants to the side as I quickly changed into one of his t-shirts. He crawled under the sheets and his eyes followed me as I walked around to the opposite side of the bed. The whisper of his comforter falling to the floor was loud in the silence, and the bed shifted slightly as I crawled in behind him. I pulled the sheets up over the two of us and then molded myself against his back, his skin warm against mine.

I rubbed his arm, my forehead resting against the crook of his neck and my eyelashes caressing him softly as I blinked. He turned and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer, and began pressing kisses around my face. I put my arms around his shoulders and held him, gently rubbing his back.

"I'm here Seth, everything's going to be all right," I whispered in his ear as he turned his back to me, pulling my arm with him. I took the invitation and wrapped myself around him, spooning him to me.

_END FLASHBACK_

I smiled as I remembered that night, and it brought to mind the first night Seth and I had shared a bed, way before I admitted I liked him.

We had started the night as far away from one another as possible, my threat of ripping out Seth's jugular if he made a move having obviously worked to keep him sufficiently freaked out. Now that I think about it, it was quite mean to be so harsh, but I was attempting to come to terms with my newfound feelings for him, and I knew that his touch would tilt the odds in his favor.

_FLASHBACK_

I woke to find Seth staring into space, his eyes directed just behind my head. _Wait a second, I was facing the wall when I fell asleep_, I thought, and groaned internally when I realised what I had done. As I had discovered when Marissa and I first started having sleepovers, I gravitate towards warm bodies while sleeping. And so, despite my warning to Seth, during the night I had curled myself around him as he lay on his back. My head lay on his shoulder, my left arm was slung around his waist and my left leg was in between the two of his. This last piece of information went through my brain at the same time as I felt another part of Seth's anatomy that had awoken before his brain.

I blinked in shock, and noticed that Seth's eyes were now focused on my own. Ignoring the compliment pressing against my thigh, and ignoring what said compliment was doing to my own body, I hardened my gaze and attempted to act normal…well, as normal as I could with all these errant feelings swirling inside me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" My voice sounded too harsh, even though I was attempting to treat Seth the same way I had for the past sixteen years, _if you treated him the way you have in the past you wouldn't be talking to him at all_, a little voice in my head spoke up. _Shut up!_

He glanced at his fingers, which were hovering over my hair, and glanced at my eyes again. I could almost see the cogs working in his brain as he wondered on the best approach.

"Well good morning to you too, sunshine."

The nickname was a nice change from 'babe', which so many other guys gave me, but again I ignored the feelings fluttering in my stomach and pretended Seth was one of the many overzealous jocks who had attempted to get into my pants using only their good looks and non-existent charm. "Screw the good mornings. I asked you what you were doing," I bit out, anger flashing in my features. _Wow, this pretending-Cohen's-a-jock-thing is really working!_

A muscle twitched in his jaw. "What does it look like I was doing? I was trying to sleep when you decided to use me as your full-body human pillow." Obviously he wasn't going to put up with the self-righteous shit from me.

My eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring slightly, _he's a jock who wants to get into your pants_, I repeated the phrase in my head to force myself to continue acting like I didn't like what had happened. "Well, it doesn't look like you"—I spared a quick downward glance—"were minding it all that much."

He followed the direction of my gaze. "Oh, that," he answered, attempting – and failing – to be casual about it. He shrugged the one shoulder he could move, the other still trapped beneath my head. _Why haven't you moved away yet? I mean, he is just an annoying jock, right?_ That little voice made itself known again, and once more I told it to shut up. "It's a guy thing, happens most mornings, so don't flatter yourself thinking you had something to do with it. Although you rubbing yourself up against me like you're looking to start a fire doesn't exactly help any." Wow. He obviously got over the uncomfortableness, both physical and emotional. Then he shifted his arm slightly, "And as much as I enjoy having you lying here on top of me, Summer, I have to be honest with you—my arm's starting to fall asleep."

I pulled away from him then. Actually, 'pull' might have been too mild a word; something more along the lines of 'yanked' or 'ripped' would probably have been better. Sitting up abruptly, I quickly made sure nothing had fallen out of my nightgown, _if you hate him so much why did you decide to wear **that** to bed?_ That damn voice spoke up again, _don't you think you're teasing him? Showing him what he can't have?_ I ignored the voice, resting my weight on the palms of my hands. "I was _not_ rubbing myself against you!" I declared in outrage. I probably would have looked a little more intimidating if I weren't sitting there in such a revealing nightgown. But of course _he_ wasn't about to tell me that.

Seth propped himself up on his elbows, shifting slightly to a more comfortable position. I hope he didn't notice the way my eyes darted to the front of his sweats and then quickly back up to his face, my cheeks flushing pink. "Yeah, how can you be sure? You were asleep, weren't you?" He continued on amiably, speaking almost as if to himself, "Or did you roll into my arms while you were awake?"

"Shut the hell up," I hissed before he could continue to ramble, on my knees now, hands clenched at my sides. I couldn't let him continue, for fear he had been awake for longer than I thought; the last remnants of my dream running through my head, _omigod did I call out his name in my sleep? Entirely possible considering what I was dreaming about before I woke up…_ "Don't, for a second, think that any of that's gonna work on me. I'd have to be a complete moron to actually believe anything that came out of _your_ mouth."

Seth's eyes narrowed, and I could see him preparing himself for a challenge. He had abandoned the casual pose along the way, and brought himself upright, into a sitting position—not quite eye-to-eye, me being on my knees, but close enough. "Really? Then how would you explain the fact that it was _you_ lying with _your_ head on _my_ shoulder; that it was _your_ leg resting on top of _mine_; that it was _your_ thigh rubbing up against _my_—"

"I don't have to explain anything," I hastily interrupted. "_I_ was asleep. You, however, were wide-awake. What the hell were _you_ thinking?"

"I was _not_ wide awake. I just woke up a couple minutes before you did." _Well thank god, that means he didn't hear anything I may have murmured while in the throes of dreamland._ The bed jolted as Seth got off the bed and headed into the bathroom.

_END FLASHBACK_

The boat rocked suddenly, jerking me out of my flashback. I grabbed onto the mast of the boat so I didn't fall off, and my other hand touched something that crinkled. I looked down and saw that my hand was resting on a plastic bag. Opening it, I examined the contents; a compass, a map, some fishing line, a whole bunch of stuff I didn't recognise, and a folded piece of paper. Shoving the rest of the crap back into the bag, I sat back and unfolded the paper.

"Oh my god." I gasped. It was a picture, a drawing. Of me. Judging by the date on the bottom it had been done the night after last year's fashion show, the day after Ryan had first arrived in Newport. It was of me on the runway, at the fashion show. Unlike most of the drawings people had done of me, it didn't emphasise my physical aspects, in fact my body was pretty vaguely drawn, but my face was very detailed. I could tell that Seth had been studying my face for years, and had gotten to know every crease as intimately as he could without touching them. As much as the thought creeped me out, it was also flattering.

I tried to imagine his face in my mind, but couldn't get it as detailed as mine was in the drawing. I guess I hadn't been examining him as long as he had me. After I had admitted to myself that I liked him I hadn't looked at another guy the same way – they were all compared to Seth and, of course, none of them matched him. It was the combination of looks, innocent charm and wit that made me care about him the way I did; no-one had ever verbally sparred with me the way he and I bantered, and there was nothing I liked more than the casual innuendos we exchanged on a regular basis.

The thing I liked most about him was the way he treated me. He had never looked at me as a piece of ass the way my other 'boyfriends' had. And even though our relationship had started out – and continued to be – heavily physical, he was always amazed it was him I chose to share my body with. He always treated me as if I was a precious doll and, I was surprised to find, could go without for much longer than I could…I guess eight years of lusting after me gave him incredible willpower; case in point, the time before I had admitted our relationship in public, when he refused to "acknowledge me privately if I wasn't going to acknowledge him publicly".

I felt like I could tell him anything, and I knew he would never judge me, his opinion of me and his feelings for me wouldn't change no matter what I secrets I revealed to him. He had proved that after I had disclosed that I had lost my virginity to him; despite being shocked at first, he had been supportive and so sweet about slowing things down. I still hadn't told Marissa that Seth was my first, and I couldn't decide whether it was because I knew she'd be hurt that I hadn't told her sooner or that I'd let her assume things she shouldn't have had to assume. Best friend are supposed to tell one another everything, right? Okay so I'd never actually come out and said "I had sex with (insert random water polo player's name here)", but I hadn't corrected the rumors that flew around the school everytime I hooked up with a guy. Before Seth, 'hooking up' never went further than second base, despite the guy proclaiming the next day that he had "screwed Summer Roberts".

Seth was also the first one to call me beautiful; all the jocks said I was 'hot', and my father only ever said I was 'pretty'. And he didn't say it all the time either; so that when he did say it I actually believed that he meant it. He never called me 'babe' or 'baby', two nicknames that I absolutely detest, _I don't think I ever actually told him I hate being called 'baby', he just kind of…figured it out_. I smiled as I remembered how he had come up with my special nickname.

_FLASHBACK_

Seth shrugged and held the door to their biology class open, allowing me to pass through. "After you, Roberts."

His mouth lifted in a full grin, which only grew wider as I turned and affixed him with a glare.

"'Roberts'? Oh no no no. You will not call me by my last name, Cohen," I warned as we started

to our seats.

"Why not? You call me by my last name," he teased gently, slowing to a stop behind our table.

"Yeah." I stated as I sat down. Seth looked at me questioningly, obviously asking me to answer his question. "It's disrespectful to call a woman by only her surname."

Seth raised his eyebrows, "Oh, you're a woman now are you?"

I rolled my eyes and smacked him with my bio textbook. "Shut up, Cohen."

"It has recently come to my attention that you spend the best part of your life telling me to shut up." Seth said, snatching the book off me.

"Well if you did it every once in a while then I wouldn't have to tell you." I smiled at him sweetly, and took my book back.

"Ouch." Seth said to himself.

Later that afternoon the two of us were watching a movie at the Cohen house when Seth pleaded with me to get him a soda. Even after I refused – on the grounds that it was his house and he should get his own drinks – he continued to whine until I finally gave in – only because he was spoiling the movie for me, not that I'd ever admit to Seth that I like _The Matrix Reloaded_.

"Here ya go, Cohen." I said as I returned to the living room with two cans of Mountain Dew. "And there is no way I'm getting up again til the end of the movie, so don't even think about asking me to get anything else."

"Thanks Honey." Seth replied, totally engrossed in the movie, which he had unpaused. "Ouch!" he yelped when I smacked his arm. "What was that for?"

I laughed at his girly reply, then stretched out on the couch, resting my head his lap. "A) you unpaused the movie while I was still out of the room. And b) don't call me 'honey', alright? I'm not food, so don't call me food nicknames, and I'm not sweet, so you can't call me 'sweetie'."

"No kidding." Seth commented. "I gotta call you something. And it's gotta be sweet cause you're my girlfriend and I have to call you sweet things even if you're not sweet yourself. It's practically required by law." He was quiet for a moment, "Hey what's your middle name?" I turned to face him, and looked at him questioningly.

"Jordan, why?"

"Well, since I can't call you food nicknames, or 'honey', or 'sweetie', or 'Roberts' and I doubt you'd like it if I called you something like 'snuggle-bunny' or 'sugar-lips'…even though your lips are always really sweet, but they don't really taste like sugar, more like some kind of fruit, maybe raspberry? Or apricot? No it's not a single type, but it's not, like, a complete fruit salad, so maybe strawberry and peach? Raspberry, pine-"

"Cohen!" I yelled as I sat up, amazed at his ability to have a whole conversation with himself about the most inane of topics. "Back to the subject? Why do you want to know my middle name?"

"I need to make up my own nickname." Seth replied matter-of-factly.

"Okay…" I replied, still lost. "You know you could always just call me, oh I dunno, Summer?"

"I want my own special nickname that no-one else calls you." Seth responded, "But Jordan isn't exactly nickname-friendly…how about Jay?"

"Jay?" I repeated, testing out the way it sounded.

"Jay." Seth nodded decisively, then looked at me cautiously, "that's ok right? You wouldn't mind if I called you Jay?"

I grinned widely, flattered that he cared so much as to give me my own special nickname. Launching myself at him, I knocked us both off the couch and onto the floor, me on top of him. In between kisses I gave him permission, "I…would love…for you…to give me…my own…special…nickname…and…Jay is fine…better than…friggin'…'sugar-lips'…"

_END FLASHBACK_

He doesn't call me 'Jay' all the time; regularly enough for me to have gotten used to answering to it, but not so often that it's not so special anymore. I love him being the only one to call me 'Jay', just like I'm the only one who always calls him 'Cohen' without meaning it as an insult. Aside from the teachers calling him 'Mr. Cohen' when he's in trouble, everyone calls him 'Seth'…weird, I know. It's not like I don't know his first name – although that was initially the reason – but I like to give people nicknames, like Coop and Chino. There are only three situations in which I call him 'Seth'; when I'm _really_ pissed off at him, like on the verge of a rage blackout; when we're talking about something _really_ serious, like the night Ryan left; and right at _that_ moment, when the world is exploding around me and all I can see is his face in front of me, regardless of whether it's physically there or not.

"Hey." An unfamiliar voice startled me out of my thoughts.

I looked up to find myself blinded by a flashlight beam pointed straight at me. "Would you point that down a bit?"

"Sorry." The beam lowered and I could make out a vague male figure above the light. "Who are you and what are you doing here? That isn't your boat."

"I'm Summer Roberts. It's my boyfriend's boat." I replied.

"Ohhhh, _you're_ Summer." The guy's face was now full of understanding. "Well just don't sail off on it now, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded, and the guy moved away.

I stood up warily, trying to steady myself as the boat rocked on the gentle waves. Picking up my shoes and purse, I stepped up onto the pier, turning for one more look at my namesake before heading down the pier towards the carpark.

As I drove out of the carpark I noticed a tall figure on a skateboard, sports bag slung over one shoulder. I couldn't recognise who it was in the setting sun, so I ignored the twist in my stomach and continued driving.

* * *

So this is another chance for you to 'vote'…I'm pretty much decided but would love to hear your thoughts. Sooo sorry for taking so long, had some family issues to deal with, then had other fanfic commitments… And I know it's weird that the security dude had a flashlight when the sun was still setting, but I figured he'd have it for the night-shift.

And yes there were a lot of flashbacks in this one, but I needed to put some dialogue into it, so this was my chosen option…I'm also trying to sate my desire for one-shots that revolve around missing scenes, and killing two birds with one stone is always good.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed – oc.i.luv.u, alexis, Shirl, ukbabes, adambrody10, DSmooth321, Alexandra Bruderlin, anongurl, Candy.07, moviescript Ending, Quicksilvre and crystalizedsoul104 – I love you all, this chapter is for you guys!


	3. Sunsets, Tears and Rage Blackouts

**Seceding Link**

Ch 3: Sunsets, Tears and Rage Blackouts

**By Somebody's Angel**

_I think I've already lost you  
I think you're already gone  
I think I'm finally scared now  
You think I'm weak - I think you're wrong_

Seth skated down to the pier, then picked up his skateboard and walked down to the place where his boat was anchored. He dropped his bag on the pier next to the board, and then looked back the way he had come. This was it. His final attempt at escaping the place that had haunted him ever since his parents had moved here. So much had happened over the past twelve years in Newport, some good, some bad – mostly bad. Aside from the previous year Seth had precious few good memories of his time in Newport.

He looked down at his boat and thought of five years ago, when he had found this very craft in the living room on the morning of his twelfth birthday. He had taken one look at it and immediately known what he wanted to name it…after the tiny brown-haired girl whose hands, the day before, had shook as she read her poem aloud to the class. Seth smiled as he remembered the consequences of sharing his memory of that day with Summer. Their first kiss. His first kiss. It couldn't have been more perfect if Seth himself had scripted it…at least the kiss itself; the aftermath of the kiss, during which Summer had abandoned him for yet another rich older guy who would no doubt be more interested in her boobs than her personality, leaving Seth to grin broadly at the pool, could have been better.

The memory also brought sadness with it, as Seth was forced to remember exactly why it was that he was leaving. Ryan was leaving, going back to his old life, so it only seemed right that everything else should go back to 'normal' as well. Seth would be a comic book geek again, Marissa would drown her sorrows in alcohol and Summer would resume acting the part of Newport bitch. After a year of having friends and even a girlfriend, there was no way Seth was going survive going back to the way things were pre-Ryan. Now that he knew what it felt like to have people your own age who liked you for the person you were, not just because of the amount of money you had, he could not – would not – go back to sucking up to the pre-teens in order to escape his loneliness. Now that he knew what it was like to have all of Summer, there was no way he could go back to lusting after her from afar.

_I think you're already leaving  
Feels like your hand is on the door_

After all, there was no way Summer would want to be with an emo geek who was obsessed with comic books and dressed in novelty t-shirts…Seth remembered how much he had hated the first week of their relationship – when she had refused to acknowledge him in public – and he knew that he would die inside when she did it again.

_I thought this place was an empire  
But now I'm relaxed - I can't be sure_

For a while – when Ryan was by his side – Newport had seemed almost habitable, even…a pretty cool place to live. Seth was no longer bullied at school; the water polo players, left without a leader when Luke was socially ostracized, left well enough alone, and many other pupils acknowledged him by name. But the moment Ryan turned out of the Cohen driveway, Seth had felt everything else he had come to cherish draining away with each turn of the worn tires of Teresa's yellow convertible.

In all truthfulness there were two ways Seth could escape, but the second was somewhat more permanent, and he had seen too many botched attempts in movies to believe that it was as simple as it was made out too be.

Besides, this way he might be able to find a place where he could be happy, make some new friends, maybe even find a new girlfriend…although he knew in his heart that he could never love anyone as much as he loved Summer; the movies always said that you never forget your first love, and Seth was inclined to believe them.

He knew that he was being a tad unfair to Summer, believing that she would just up and leave him for no reason just because Ryan was gone, but his experiences with loyalty were somewhat limited. Just about the only people he could rely on were his parents, Ryan having ditched him for a pregnant ex-girlfriend, and Anna having decided that her friendship with Seth wasn't enough to overcome her loneliness. Why should he assume that Summer would be any different? Sure his relationship with Summer was different from his relationship with Ryan, and with Anna, for that matter, but essentially it all came down to previous experiences…the seven-year-old Summer who shared her lunch with a skinny squirrel had grown up into a thirteen-year-old Summer who looked away when he got beat up by the waterpolo team on the first day of seventh grade. And although it was important to him that Summer had been one of the few who didn't laugh at his misfortune, she hadn't exactly been begging Luke and the others to stop either.

Seth stepped down onto the _Summer Breeze_ and felt something hit his foot. He glanced at his planted foot as he moved the other one, so as not to step on the object. The silver glinted in the fading sunlight, and Seth recognised it instantly.

It was Summer's cell phone.

* * *

I reached to the passenger seat for my purse, making sure to keep my eyes on the road as I did so. I pulled it onto my lap and fumbled around for my cell, intending to call Marissa to make sure she hadn't continued her drinking spree at her new house – it wasn't a home. 

I frowned and pulled over to the side of the road to continue my hunt, taking everything out of the Chanel bag while searching. Wallet, compact, mascara, lipgloss, tampons, a pen…no cell phone. I tipped the bag upside down just in case it had become lodged in a fold of the lining…I counted a dollar and twelve cents in loose change, but still no cell. A sudden thought occurred to me, and I did a quick U-turn before speeding back the way I had come.

The spot I had vacated not five minutes ago was still free, and I was out of the car almost before I had turned it off, getting tangled in my seatbelt in my haste. I finally freed myself from its constraints and made my way back to the pier.

There was a familiar figure standing on the boat, and I narrowed my eyes when I saw the duffle bag and skateboard on the dock next to it. _He wouldn't_, was the first panicked thought through my brain, followed by an immense calm that I knew from experience was the beginnings of a rage blackout.

"Cohen!" my voice seemed to echo around the marina, and Seth's head immediately jerked up. His eyes found mine right away, and I couldn't understand all the emotions in the tawny depths; anger, sadness, pain, fear and a thousand other things were mixed with the happiness and adoration that were always reflected when I looked into his eyes.

He said nothing, just held up my cell as some sort of peace offering. I snatched it away from him, and waited impatiently while he clambered back onto the dock.

"Summer, I-" He began, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I yelled, so loudly that the few people at the marina at this hour all looked at me strangely. Tears pricked my eyes and I blinked them away, "Coz it looks like you're getting ready to run away!" Seth opened his mouth to respond, but I continued before he could get a word out, "I'm sure you wouldn't do that, coz you know it would kill me if you abandoned me, especially without saying goodbye."

"Sum-"

I ignored him and continued yelling, tears now trickling down my cheeks, "You know how much it hurt me when my mother left, now you're going to do that exact same thing?"

I honestly don't remember what happened next.

My rage blackouts aren't just an excuse or a threat. The last thing I remember was screaming and crying at Seth. The next Seth holding me tightly while I sobbed into his polo.

He was rubbing my back and whispering into my hair as I clutched his striped shirt in my fist and soaked it with my tears. I took a deep breath and despite almost choking on the lungful of air I got, I calmed down a lot – enough to actually hear what Seth was saying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," seemed to be the mantra, sprinkled with a few "I won't leave"s and "Summer calm down"s.

Taking a couple more deep breaths to reacquaint myself with respiration, I pulled away from Seth's embrace, keeping hold of his hands as if he would disappear once I let go. I looked down at our intertwined fingers, marvelling at how his large hands completely enclosed my smaller ones…I felt safer knowing he was there, even though I knew in reality it would probably be me protecting him if something life-threatening did happen.

I thought about the last time I had thought I'd lost him – when Anna was leaving.

_FLASHBACK_

"Then go, stop her." I said with a sigh, knowing that no matter how much he wanted to go, he never would without my permission.

He nodded as if he hadn't thought of it himself. His kiss, though lingering, was to my forehead, which didn't exactly help me erase my doubts about his feelings for Anna. Yeah, so he said she was just his friend, but she had, however briefly, been his girlfriend as well.

_If you're gone – maybe it's time to go home  
There's an awful lot of breathing room  
But I can hardly move  
If you're gone – baby you need to come home  
Cuz there's a little bit of something me  
In everything in you_

I didn't watch him walk away, instead staring at the place he had so recently occupied. My lips twisted into a self-depreciating smirk as I listened to Seth convincing Ryan to drive him to the airport.

Once they had left I walked through the living room on my way upstairs, giving Teresa a sympathetic smile as I passed.

Upstairs I sat on Seth's bed and watched as his bedside clock ticked over two minutes. At least the clock said it was two minutes; I could have sworn it was two hours. I tried to distract myself with the television, but on eighty-nine channels there was nothing more interesting than a repeat of the first season of _The Simple Life_. Switching it off, I saw that Seth's computer was turned on, and decided to wile away the time by surfing the Net. I got into Seth's user account with ease – not like it was hard, the password was 'Summer' – and grinned when I saw the desktop picture; Seth and myself, arms around one another, grinning widely at the camera. But I had no new emails, and my favourite _The Valley_ website hadn't updated since I had last checked it, so even the Internet quickly grew boring. I looked at Seth's beside clock – it had been 30 minutes since Seth's lips had left my forehead.

_I bet you're hard to get over  
I bet the room just won't shine  
I bet my hands I can stay here  
I bet you need – more than you mind_

Switching on the TV again, I found that Paris and Nicole had been replaced by _Will and Grace_, and made myself comfortable on Seth's bed to watch.

However I soon found myself staring through the screen as I thought about what was keeping me at the Cohens' instead of going home to my own bed. Seth and Anna. Or, more precisely, Seth's feelings for Anna. I was positive Seth was going to see Anna walking away from him and finally realise that she was who he had wanted all along. They had far more in common than Seth and I did, and could talk about comic books or their whiny music for hours; when Seth and I talked it was mostly one of us talking and the other pretending to listen to his critique of the newest _Legion_ or my comments about the latest fashions. Sure we did have actual conversations, but they were almost always about the other people involved in our lives – the Ryan/Marissa/Teresa triangle, my stepmother's latest antics, his parents' latest 'public' make out session (though how his kitchen classified as public is still a mystery to me) – not our own lives.

Just as I was beginning to picture their reunion at the airport, footsteps inside the room broke me from my trance.

"Summer? What are you doing here?"

He was here. Not at the airport trying to win Anna back. Not making out with her in the backseat as Ryan drove them back to the house. In fact – I checked the corridor outside his room – she wasn't here at all.

"Where's Anna?" I asked, ignoring Seth's question.

His confused expression only grew more baffled at my words, "On a plane to Pittsburgh, I assume." He looked very sad, and I could see he was battling tears.

He sank down on the bed next to me and hung his head. "She's gone."

I tried to be supportive of his loss as I draped an arm across his shoulders, but all I could think about was the fact that the blonde pixie was finally gone – hopefully for good.

He sniffed loudly, successfully holding back his tears, and then seemed to remember that I was here. "What are you doing here, Summer?" He asked again, wrapping an arm around my waist as he turned to face me.

I looked down, now kind of embarrassed. "I thought I had lost you." Seth looked confused, so I elaborated, "You left me to go chase after Anna."

"She's my _friend_." Seth interrupted. "Besides, you _told_ me to go."

"I know, I know." I nodded, feeling more and more pathetic as the conversation went on. What was I, some needy, clingy girlfriend? Had Cohen turned me into Marissa? "I just…"

I paused to gather my thoughts and, for once in his life, Seth also stayed quiet. "You chose her." I broke the silence softly, almost whispering the words, and I knew that if Seth hadn't been sitting right beside me he wouldn't have been able to hear what I was saying. "When we forced you to choose at Chrismukkah, you chose her not me. I thought you were going to choose her again." I explained, keeping my eyes on floor as I spoke.

"Summer," Seth said, grasping my chin to force me to look into his eyes. "Anna is my friend, nothing more. The only reason I chose her was because I was scared of choosing you. I was scared you'd get bored of me and I didn't want to go back to loving you from afar."

I was speechless, unable to believe that Seth had had the same fears I had. I felt tears prick my eyes for no apparent reason, and chased them away by kissing Seth with every ounce of emotion I felt at that moment. He responded in kind, and the physical comfort was working wonders…until Ryan walked in.

"Seth do you-oh sorry." He looked away as Seth and I separated. "Sorry, I didn't know you were still here, Summer. I'm just…gonna…go." He said lamely, pointing to the door as if we needed to know how he was going to leave.

Seth followed Ryan out; shutting the door behind him. When he came back into the room he didn't rejoin me on the bed, instead choosing to stand uncomfortably in front of me. He was silent for a few seconds, obviously thinking about something. "Are you jealous of Anna?" He finally asked, and from his face I could tell he had been thinking about the question for longer than those few seconds.

I looked down, my eyelashes shielding my eyes from Seth's gaze. "Yeah."

"Why?" He asked, nonplussed. "Why would you be jealous of her?"

I made an uncomfortable face. "I don't know…you two have so much in common and…sometimes I kind of feel…replaced, I guess," I answered frankly.

"How could you ever think that anyone could replace you, Summer?" He shook his head, as though amazed by the absurdity of the idea. "It's impossible." I smiled, letting my hair fall over my face as I tilted my head down, keeping my eyes on him. "Honestly, Summer," he went on, "there's no one in the world who could remotely even begin to take your place." Then he grinned, diabolically. "Well, except maybe Ryan."

"Ryan!" I said, head jerking up.

"Yeah. Ryan." Seth said, struggling to keep a straight face. "After all, he's pretty handy in a fight, he pretends to listen to all my ramblings, and he loves to point it out, less than gently from time to time, when I do needlessly stupid things." My eyes narrowed as I looked at him, but I couldn't help the corners of my lips twitching. "On second thought, maybe he couldn't."

"And why is that?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Unable to control himself, Seth started to laugh. "Ryan's a helluva a lot taller than you."

He was able to duck the first pillow I threw at him, but not the second.

He picked both pillows up off the ground and turned to me with a wicked grin, grasping one in each hand.

"Oh no you don't, Cohen." I tried my best "don't you dare" tone, even though I couldn't hold in the smirk that crossed my face.

He ignored me, and threw himself onto the bed, smacking me with both pillows. I wrestled one off him, and we continued to fight until finally he ripped the pillow from my hands and pinned me to the bed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and attempted to pull his lips down to mine, but he resisted, all traces of mirth erased from his face.

"Summer," he began, in a tone that wiped the smile off my face as well. "Anna is, and only ever will be, my friend. Even when we were dating we were more like good friends than boyfriend and girlfriend." He continued to hold himself up over me, and I wondered where he had gotten all the strength. "We never fought, coz we like all the same things and have all the same interests. You were right, it was like dating my sister, or a female version of me."

I screwed up my nose, "Ew."

Seth nodded and kissed the tip of my nose. "So, what I meant was…you don't have to worry about Anna stealing me away from you." He kissed my lips softly, "No-one will ever steal me away from you," He whispered the words against my lips, so I felt them as well as heard them.

_END FLASHBACK_

I squeezed Seth's hand harder as I remembered the way he had reassured me that night. And now here he was running away because Ryan left – at least that's what I assumed, he hadn't actually explained why…_but do I really want to know?_ I asked myself, using Seth's uncharacteristic silence to analyse my own feelings. _Do I really want to know how he felt when he saw Ryan leaving for Chino, why he thinks I'm going to break up with him?_ Seth's dad's words came back to me as I stood there looking at the sun setting over the ocean.

"It's so beautiful here," I said, leaving the heavy conversations for another time.

"Yeah, it is," he replied, never taking his eyes off of me as he pulled me into his arms.

I blushed. He was doing it again. He was so damn good at that. He could break right through my tough-chick exterior and find the girly romantic I kept so well hidden.

"I meant the sky," I told him.

"I didn't," he replied. What a charmer.

Seth leaned over and softly kissed me. I smiled against his lips, and gentle broke the kiss, resting my head the crook of his neck.

"Why didn't you invite me?" I mumbled into the fresh-smelling skin – he had obviously had a shower very recently.

Seth pulled away to look me in the eyes questioningly.

"Can I come with you?" I asked, keeping my eyes on his.

Seth looked at me in shock, "You want to come with me, on my boat?"

"Would you mind?" I was suddenly shy; afraid he had some sort of no-girls policy. _What other girls would have wanted on his boat, Summer?_ A familiar little voice commented sarcastically, _Tinkerbelle, probably, but I'd so love to see him explain the boat's name to her_.

Seth grinned at me widely, "Would I mind?" He lifted me into his arms and spun me around, "Summer, ever since I got the boat I've been dreaming of the day you'd ask to sail with me. I didn't think it would ever happen." He set me down and I smiled at him sadly, ashamed once again for ignoring him all those years.

"So let's go." I motioned towards the boat behind him. "But-" I held up a finger, "We aren't going for the whole summer."

"How about two weeks?" He asked, and I nodded in agreement. "But Summer, don't you want to go to your house and get some stuff? Clothes, shoes, Princess Sparkle?"

I shook my head, "Those kind of things don't matter to me as much as they once would have." I shrugged, "I can fit into most of your clothes anyway." I grinned and nudged him in the stomach.

He slipped his arm around my waist and drew me close. I took a breath, raised my eyes to meet his. He watched the color in my face change, felt the heat of my flush through my dress. A lock of hair was hanging by my cheek; he took his time, hooking it over his finger, sliding his finger along my cheek as he reached to tuck the hair behind my ear. My breath caught in my throat. After a moment more, I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, get on with it already," I said and put my hand to his cheek, closing the small distance between us, kissing him softly.

* * *

Soooo sorry for the extra long wait. Real-life interfered and then my good friend Mr Writer's Block came to stay. But he's now left, and I'm on uni break so (crosses fingers) hopefully the next chapter won't take quite so long. Hope you liked it – tell me what I can do to improve it if you didn't…or even if you did. Look for another couple of S2 one-shots to be out soon as well. 

Song is _If You're Gone_, by matchbox twenty.

Thanks to all my new reviewers! albinofrog88, bfan2good4u, me, fabbydoshous, lefty21, caring is creepy, kay.note, PrincessSparkle09, for you to notice, megan, Holly Mariano, weasley74, Doves30, friendsfan808, sUmMeRiTh, ocislife, BrodyLuva  
And my repeat reviewers, this one's for you guys–Candy.07, Scarlet 182, moviescript Ending, Quicksilvre (and you're right about Summer's middle name...or maybe the writers could make it easier on us and tell us her middle name...)


	4. Be With You

**Seceding Link  
**Ch 4: Be With You  
**By Somebody's Angel**

The young couple looked so in love, an old woman reflected as she watched the two laugh and play on the beach from her seat at a beachfront café on Catalina Island. The curly-haired boy grinned at his bikini-clad girlfriend conspiratorially before picking her up and hoisting her over his shoulder. Despite her laughing protests and flailing legs, he carried her down to the water, wading in up to his waist before tossing her in gently. Her shriek echoed around the small beach, and her boyfriend's self-satisfied smirk quickly faded when she whipped her head around, sprinkling him with water from her wet hair, and levelled a glare at him. He backed up a few feet, trying to placate her with words, but when it didn't seem to be working he turned on his heel to run. He only made it a few steps before she jumped on his back, wrapping her legs around his waist at the same time as she smacked him over the head.

The woman smiled when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up from her seat to see the lined face of her husband gazing down at her. He motioned to her empty glass from the table next to her, silently asking if she wanted a refill. She nodded and turned her attention back to the beach, to the teenage couple that reminded her of her and her husband in their younger days. Apparently the short brunette girl had punished her boyfriend enough for getting her hair wet, for she discontinued hitting him and allowed him to pull her from his back, keeping her legs around his waist so she swivelled to face him. He enclosed her in his arms to prevent her falling backwards as she cupped his smooth face in her hands and kissed him softly.

They waded out of the water hand-in-hand, making their way to their towels. When the girl bent over to retrieve something from her bag, her boyfriend playfully smacked her on the behind. This earned him an elbow in the ribs, which he dodged, laughing. While he was enjoying his victory his girlfriend discreetly compacted a ball of sand in her right hand. And just as he turned to collect the towels, she threw it full force at the side of his head. The boy turned, his lips pulled into a thin line. He ran at her and tackled her to the ground. He poked her in the ribs, and pinned her to the spot, tickling her till she cried for mercy. Satisfied that he'd served her just punishment, he helped her to her feet. She had laughed so hard that were tearstains down the side of her face.

After collecting their belongings the pair walked down the street with arms around one another – until the boy said something that offended his girlfriend and she pushed him away from her, chasing him down the street until the woman could no longer see them.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Cohen?" I said, lifting my head off his shoulder to look at him.

"Yeah Summer?"

"It's been two weeks." I replied, and the look that came over his face told me he knew what I hadn't put into words.

He nodded and stopped walking, taking his arm from around my shoulders so I could stand in front of him, "So do you wanna go this afternoon, or tomorrow morning?"

I thought about it; this afternoon meant I could check on Marissa that much sooner, although I knew exactly what I would be greeted with the moment I walked into her new bedroom – I had seen it way too many times at her old house to even suspect that this time would be any different. On the other hand, tomorrow morning meant I could spend one more night with Seth. "Tomorrow morning." I knew that Seth's parents would enforce some kind of punishment on him as soon as we got home, and it would most likely be a grounding from girls as well as outings. As much as I wanted to make sure my best friend wasn't lying on her bedroom floor with alcohol poisoning, I also wanted to spend as much time with Seth as possible. I had lifted the sex-ban pretty much as soon as we got on the water – watching him do all the things to make the boat sail in the right direction made him really desirable.

Seth grinned at me, probably thinking along similar lines to me, and grabbed my hand, enticing me to begin moving again.

I was amazed that we had spent two weeks in each other's constant company and hadn't broken up or killed one another. Apart from the time I had spent getting pampered at the spa in the resort we were staying in, Seth and I had pretty much been within sight of one another the entire two weeks we had been here, yet we hadn't fought…well, no more than usual. To tell the truth it freaked me out a little bit, how much at ease we were in one another's company; even mundane things like getting changed – though many a time Seth helped me undress – or nighttime rituals were merely performed, no awkwardness to speak of – though I did draw the line at going to the toilet while Seth was in the shower, something he seemed to have no problem with.

Our two weeks away had been something of an experience, especially for me, as, not only has I never been sailing before, but I also had literally no clothes to wear. As soon as we arrived in Catalina I had dragged Seth off to the nearest department store to buy myself some essentials – bikini, underwear, toiletries – however my love of shopping kicked in as soon as I felt the air conditioning of the first store, and we ended up spending almost the whole day there, maxing out my father's credit card. I still wore many of Seth's clothes – I found his novelty tees were a great cover-up over a bikini, or as a nightshirt.

Seth nudged my shoulder, succeeding in jolting me out of my thoughts also, and pointed out that it was almost five. I squinted at him, and swiped his sunglasses off his face, putting them on so I could actually see him.

"Hey!" Seth exclaimed, but at my look he didn't attempt to retrieve his sunglasses. He shrugged and continued with his previous line of thought, "So what do you want to do now? If you're hungry, we could go for an early dinner, or we could keep walking and eat later, or…"

I merely smiled as he continued to reel off ideas, amazed at the capacity of his imagination. "Cohen, it's our last night here." I began, cutting him off in the middle of his sixteenth idea, "I want to make it special. Let's go back to the hotel now, and we can get dressed up to have a nice dinner later tonight." Then I remembered that I was trying to be less controlling in our relationship, "Is that OK with you? What do you want to do?"

Seth grinned and wrapped an arm around me. "I'm fine with that Jay, I just want to spend time with you."

I chuckled, "You are so sweet," putting my hands on his cheeks and leading his lips to mine. I kissed him deeply, softly exploring his mouth with my tongue as I invited his to do the same in mine.

We walked back to the hotel to spend some quality time together before our last evening meal on the island.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I woke an hour and a half later with a huge grin on my face, due to the _extremely_ pleasant dreams Seth had given me. Still smiling, I slid my very warm, sweat-slicked body along Seth's and then rolled over so that I was stretched atop him, gazing into his beautiful, sleepy eyes. _God, I love his eyes. No matter how hard he tries to hide it, I can always see everything he's feeling in his eyes._

"Hey, you," I said softly. "We'd better get moving, or we're going to be late." Seth had made reservations at a five-star restaurant when we returned to our suite.

"Summer, you're on top of me. If anyone's going to move it'd better be you." He tapped his hands playfully on my bottom.

"Knock it off, Cohen!" I tried to reach for his hands and felt myself sliding off him. His laughter feathered through my body as he wrapped his arms around me, rolling me back under him and then kissing me until we were both breathless.

I shoved him away, and accidentally-on-purpose pushed him too hard, in a move that would have cause him to fall off the bed had we been at home in his double. However our bed in the suite was a king, so he merely rolled over a few times before sitting up and smirking at me – he knew the manoeuvre, had been victim to it many times.

I rolled my eyes at him and wrapped the sheet around my naked body before going to the wardrobe to pick out some clothes. It wasn't that I was embarrassed or ashamed at my nakedness – we spent way too much time naked together to be embarrassed as we had the first time we had seen one another unclothed – but I knew that if either of us walked around naked we would never leave the room, and I actually wanted to spend my last night in Catalina experiencing the island, not just Seth.

Picking out Seth's new favorite lingerie – a fuchsia bra and brazilian cut panty set – and a hot pink halter-neck dress, I slipped into the bathroom to get ready.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Summer, come on!" Seth banged on the bathroom door for the third time in as many minutes. "If you don't come out of there in the next thirty seconds we're going to be late, and you know they won't hold the reservations for very long."

The door wasn't locked, but Seth knew better than to interrupt me before I was ready – I believe the last time involved him with a bruised hipbone from falling down the stairs and me livid and having to do my hair all over again; needless to say we were more than late to that particular event. "Two secs!" I swiped my lips with gloss once more, then shoved the tiny stick into my purse – no doubt the gloss would come off within minutes of Seth seeing me, and I wasn't about to walk around with unglossed lips all night.

Taking one last look in the mirror to ensure I looked awesome, I yelled at Seth to move away from the door, then exited the bathroom.

The look on Seth's face when he saw me was well worth the forty minutes it had taken to get ready. His mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide and he didn't blink for several moments. I stood there waiting for the ogling to stop – knowing that it would ruin the image if I moved before he was ready to look away.

However, after two whole minutes he still hadn't stopped staring, and was now rambling on about how beautiful I looked, still standing in the exact place he had been when I left the bathroom. "You should really stop staring, Cohen. It's rude," I finally said with a smirk.

"I'm only staring cause you're gorgeous," he replied, rambling over. He moved forward and kissed me, slowly, sensually. I kissed him back, but pulled away quickly, reminding him of our reservations.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

After dinner – during which Seth learned which lingerie set I was wearing, the discovery of which led to an impromptu bathroom rendezvous – we took a walk along the beach, enjoying the solitude that came with the darkness as we munched on the ice cream cones we had purchased from a stall, catching the vendor just before he closed for the night.

"You know what I love about ice cream?" Seth began, but I cut him off before he could ruin the tranquillity with his incessant babbling.

"You know what I love about it? It shuts you up." I interrupted, and placed a finger over his mouth before he allowed a thoughtless retort to escape. "Just shut up and enjoy the silence, for once."

The sand crunched under our feet and a sea breeze ran its fingers through my curly hair and toyed with the bottom of my pink dress. Finishing his ice cream – and mine – Seth wrapped an arm around my waist as we moved closer to the edge of the water.

"Cold?" he whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

"I'm good," I replied, resting my head on his shoulder. Despite my assurance, Seth took off his suit jacket – another of our purchases during our first day here – and draped it over my shoulders. I rolled my eyes at his prince charming act, but snuggled into the warmth nonetheless.

Seth looked out over the ocean, and I could see in his eyes that he was remembering the trip we had taken to get here – it wasn't exactly smooth sailing, either with the weather, or with me, the unexperienced first mate. Remnants of the day's events remained on the beach: an abandoned towel, a small, red shovel sticking out of the ground, but the life that had possessed the beach had left. We were the only two people walking among the sands of the beach now.

I gripped his waist tighter, trying to remember when I had last felt this happy. Certainly not before dating Seth…come to think of it, even the last couple of weeks hadn't been all that happy – what with the discovery of Teresa's pregnancy and the disastrous lunch with my father, not to mention "the Julie and Caleb union". In fact, thinking about it properly, the last time I had been this happy was just after the engagement – after Seth and I had fixed up Marissa's room at Jimmy's place. The four of us had spent the night in the newly-painted room – now that I think about it, it probably wasn't such a good idea, the fumes…

FLASHBACK

"Come on mom!" Seth groaned as his mother shot him down once more, "All four of us are here, it's not like we're going to hold a service party or anything!" He pouted like a little kid and shoved his cell phone at Ryan, "You reason with her."

I grabbed Seth's arm as he sat back down on the bed, leaning on him as Marissa, Seth and I watched Ryan attempt to persuade Mrs Cohen that he should let us have a slumber party.

"…we just want to cheer her up a bit, she's a little shocked about the engagement…sure we will…No, we won't…OK, we'll call you before we come home tomorrow." Ryan snapped the phone shut and tossed it at Seth, who failed to catch it, "Your mom said it's fine, she's a little preoccupied with Julie anyway, and she isn't feeling all that great either – she didn't take the news particularly well."

We all nodded knowingly – "not feeling well" was Newport-speak for "hungover" – and then Marissa and I broke into huge grins. "So what are we going to do first?" She asked, getting up from the bed and grabbing a sweater from her dresser.

"None of us really ate dinner, so how about some takeout?" Ryan raised his eyebrows in question.

"Good idea, man." Seth nodded enthusiastically, and pulled me up off the bed as he rose to follow Marissa and Ryan into the kitchen.

"Pizza?" Marissa asked, phone in hand. We nodded and mumbled our agreements, sitting down on the couch, Seth and Ryan on either side of me. Marissa sat on the arm next to Ryan, "So what do we want on the pizza?"

"Pepperoni." Ryan and I answered in unison, then looked at one another in surprise.

"Dude, how boring can you get?" Seth commented before I could contemplate the meaning of mine and Ryan's choice, "I say we get one with everything."

I wrinkled my nose, "No anchovies, eww!"

Seth rolled his eyes and conceded, "Fine, no anchovies."

Marissa and Ryan shared a look at Seth's instant compliance which I ignored – we all knew Seth was whipped, but then again so was Ryan. "I don't want any meat," she added, "So one pepperoni, one half everything hold the anchovies, half veggie?" She moved away before any of us could respond.

An hour later the leftover pizza was in the fridge and we had moved onto arguing over movies. Marissa and I had changed into pyjamas bottoms and tank tops – I borrowed some from her – while the boys were putting away the leftovers.

"_The Goonies_ is a classic! We have to watch it." Seth said, holding the movie away from Ryan as if his brother was trying to take it – which he wasn't.

"Seth, not everyone likes _The Goonies_ as much as you do, why don't we watch something that we can all enjoy?" Ryan continued searching through Marissa's large collection of DVDs, which were strewn across the coffee table.

"Can't we watch _Intolerable Cruelty_?" My voice was bordering on a whine, and I knew it was childish, but I also knew that a whine was more likely to get results. I moved around to the other side of the knee-high table, tripping over the too-long legs of my borrowed pyjama pants as I did so.

"No way, it's so stupid! The womanising lawyer who falls in love with a gold-digging client?" Seth scoffed, "How cliché."

"_The Goonies_?" I retorted, still on the floor, "What are you, eight?"

"On the inside, yes." Seth quipped, and straddled my waist, tickling me until I punched him in the stomach.

"I have a feeling we're never going to agree on anything." Marissa stated as Seth finally let me up, and all three of us shot her identical "way to state the obvious" looks. "So let's do something else," she continued, holding up a pack of cards, "who's up for some gambling?"

Poker quickly turned into strip poker, and it was only when Marissa brought out the vodka that Ryan began losing – it was a good thing we had started drinking before we began stripping. He was down to pants and boxers – apparently he couldn't hold his liquor as well as his Chino upbringing led us to believe – while Seth and I had each lost one item of clothing.

Marissa was down to her bra and underwear, and concentrating extremely hard on her cards, in a desperate attempt to preserve some modesty. No manner of bluffing could convince any of us that she had any cards that were worth anything, that is until she laid down a royal flush. She grinned around the table. "Read 'm an' weep. This means all you's needa start strippen'." We had all had more than a few shots, trading in monetary winning bonuses for alcoholic losing penalties. For some reason vodka didn't affect Seth in the same way champagne and beer did – he was probably the most sober one out of all of us.

I frowned as I wriggled around trying to get out of my pyjama pants without having to actually get up from the table. Ryan nonchalantly stood up to take off his jeans, while Seth sat there visibly debating whether to take off his shirt or his jeans – his socks had counted as one item of clothing, according to Marissa, since he was the only one wearing footwear.

"C'mon already, Coh'n." Marissa rolled her eyes at his indecision.

Finally Seth pulled his shirt off, leaving his bare chest exposed. "It was gettin' a lil' hot in here anyway."

I smirked and nudged him in the ribs. "You jus' keep tellin' y'self that, Cohen."

Another two rounds saw Marissa and Seth lose simultaneously, and we allowed them to keep their humility by calling it quits. By this time Ryan and Seth were drunk enough to agree to watching a so-called 'chick-flick', so the four of us put our clothes back on and settled down in Marissa's newly redecorated room to watch _Sweet Home Alabama_.

That night was the first time in a long time that Seth and I spent the whole night together, and while the accommodation wasn't all that flash – a mattress on the floor of Marissa's room – the company more than made up for it.

I woke in the middle of the night and, looking around, tried to remember what had roused me. Then I remembered it wasn't a sound but a feeling. I turned back to my bedmate and, sure enough, he was staring at me.

Seth brushed a stray lock of hair from my eyes after a moment of our eyes being interlocked. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.

"I'm already in bed with you. You don't have to give me those lines anymore," I joked, but stopped smiling when I realized he was staring intently at me.

"I'm serious. I'm the luckiest man in the world," he said before our lips met in a feverish kiss.

"Whoever said you're a man?" I quipped as I pulled away, expecting Seth to merely pout at my insinuation.

Instead he buried his face into my neck and whispered into my ear, "You turned me into one."

I couldn't argue with that, so I wrapped my arms around him as he rested his head on my chest, both of us drifting back to sleep.

END FLASHBACK

"Summer?" Seth's voice brought me out of the past, and I realised that we had walked all the way back to the hotel while I was reminiscing. He handed me my bag without a word, and I looked through it.

"Here, Cohen." I handed Seth the key to our suite – he had been unsuccessful at trying to find the card in my purse.

He bounded into the room as soon as the door was open, tossing the keycard in the direction of the bedside table – and missing, of course – before he flopped onto the bed, remote in hand and kicked off his shoes.

I followed him and sat down by his feet, stepping out of my heels as I did so. He ignored me, entranced in some action flick that was on TV, so in retaliation I played my hands across the bottom of his trousers, occasionally brushing the top of his foot with my fingers. I felt his foot jerk out from under my hand and looked at him, raising my eyebrows. "Are you ticklish, Cohen?"

"No!"

I smiled mischievously and grabbed his foot, hard, with both of my hands to keep him from moving. "You are, aren't you?"

"You know, Summer, all I have to do is flick my foot once and you'll go flying off the end of the bed."

"I'll take my chances." I responded and started to tickle the bottom his foot with my fingertips.

Seth made a short, sharp movement with his foot, sending me sailing off the end of the bed and colliding with the floor. I knew Seth's point of view would have been funny; all he would have been able to see was my arms and legs shooting up in the air as I fell with a thump. He started laughing, no doubt predicting my next movement to be standing up before him at the bottom of the bed. I decided not to stand up, instead moving to the side of the bed, making sure to keep out of sight.

"Summer?" He said through giggles. He moved to peer over the bed where I had fallen, however, all his eyes came in contact with was the deep blue carpet.

As soon as Seth looked over the edge I stood up and launched myself at him, crashing into the side of him, and causing both of us to fly off the bed and roll onto the floor in a heap. I was above him, laughing hysterically at my 'stealthiness', while he laughed and winced at the same time.

"Owww, Summer that hurt!" He whined, and I simply laughed harder at his high-pitched voice.

Our legs were tangled together and our hips met each other's, but my hands either side of Seth's head were supporting the weight of my torso. I stared straight into Seth's eyes and ceased my laughter at the serious look in them. He looked right back at me, silently begging me to lower myself to him, to allow him to feel my lips against his. I obliged, but pulled back almost immediately, as a punishment for kicking me off the bed. I began to lift myself off him, but stopped when I felt Seth's hand connect with my cheek, his thumb gently caressing it and then, moving slowly down, it brushed my lips. A playful smile appeared on his face.

"Maybe I am just a tiny bit ticklish. Now are you going to get off me or am I going to have to use force?"

"Force? Are you a mind reader?" I grinned as he rolled us over so that his body was now covering my smaller one. Leaning up to kiss him, I felt Seth's hands link together behind my head, supporting my neck. He gently lowered my head to the floor, never breaking the connection of our lips, while I worked on undoing the buttons of his shirt.

I ran my hands over his newly exposed chest, lifting it off his shoulders for him to shrug off. His fingers were busy ridding me of my dress – or attempting to anyway – one hand lifting the hem while the other fumbled with the zipper under my left arm. I rolled my eyes – he always sucked at opening zippers with one hand – and unzipped my dress myself.

Forcing him onto his back, I removed my dress and straddled his waist. His hands immediately came up to my back, caressing my skin and arousing me further. I simply looked at him, and a huge wave of emotion crashed through me as I watched his tongue peek out of the side of his mouth as he attempted to undo my bra with one hand. He always tried so hard to make it – make everything – good for me, even if he had to relinquish his own desires to make it better for me. I could tell how much Seth cared about me every time I looked into his eyes; every emotion he felt for me was there, and it was all I could do not to cry at the intensity of what I felt at that moment.

Seth saw the tears in my eyes and immediately stopped kissing my skin. "What's wrong, Summer? Do you want to stop?"

I smiled through my tears, and saw his shoulders sag with relief as he realised there was nothing wrong. This was just another thing I cherished about Seth – how he was always so worried about me, how I felt, what I did. I leaned down to kiss him, whispering against his lips, "I adore you," so he felt the words as well as heard them.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Hey, gorgeous," Seth said the next morning, kissing my shoulder as a hand ran over my hip and down my thigh. We were spooned together, my bare back against his naked chest, our legs intertwined and hands clasped together on my stomach – well, now my two and his left, seeing as his right hand had taken up residence drawing patterns on the outside of my thigh.

"Hey you." I replied, twisting to kiss his lips.

"You look sexy in the morning," he said. I laughed.

"Yeah, it's the touseled hair and no make-up, I'm sure."

"You're perfect," he replied, kissing gently me a few times and running his hands through my hair.

I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness, "It's too early for cheddar, Cohen." I checked the bedside clock over his shoulder, "What time do we have to check out?"

"Not 'til eleven." He answered, leaning in to kiss me again.

I placed my fingers on his lips before they reached mine. "It's after ten, Cohen."

"So?" He kissed my fingers in lieu of my lips, hands reaching for my hips again.

"So, we have to pack." I said, pulling his hands off me and sitting up. "That's gonna take at least half an hour, especially since you only brought one bag, so we have to fit all of my clothes plus your new ones in my bags." I continued as I picked up Seth's undershirt from the night before and pulled it over my head, "And then we have to shower, and get dressed, and have breakfast-"

"Summer, would you please shut up?" he asked agreeably, grinning.

After a moment, I gave in, narrowing my eyes and smirking at him. "Make me."

Seth finished pulling on his boxers and, standing up, pulled me off the bed and hoisted me over his shoulder in one movement. "Right," he said, "you got it."

"Nice butt!" I exclaimed, patting the navy blue silk.

"Do not drum on my butt, Jay."

"Why not?" I giggled.

He rolled his eyes, depositing me to my feet outside the bathroom. "You wanna shower first?" I shook my head silently, "You want me to shower first so you can pack my stuff." It was more of a statement than a question, but I still answered him with another silent shake of my head – it was amusing getting him to try and guess my thoughts. He was silent for a moment, seemingly waiting for me to offer another solution. Then his eyes lit up as if a lightbulb had gone off inside his head, and he grinned. I nodded and sauntered into the bathroom, leaving Seth following me like a little puppy.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Cohen!" I yelped as he kissed my collarbone – he knew how much it tickled, and thus deserved the smack I gave him.

"Summer!" He mimicked, kissing my collarbone again as I fumbled to get the key in the door. I shoved him off and finally succeeded in opening the front door.

Seth grabbed me around the waist as I entered, and I playfully slapped his hands away. He slapped my hands in retaliation and we both giggled, moving closer to one another, still slapping jokingly.

"Ahem."

Seth and I instantly parted, all humor gone. We turned to face two identically irate faces, one blonde, one brunette.

"Seth Ezekiel!"

* * *

So this is two months after the last instalment, but it's also over 5000 words long, so hopefully that will somewhat make up for the long wait. I was going to just have them coming home, but friends persuaded me to show them in Catalina too. I felt that this flashback was a little forced, and thus this chapter is not my favourite, but I hope that you guys liked it. We're actually getting into the plot now – which is part of the reason why it took me so long to write this part – so there will be less introspection and more action, but I hope I can make the transition somewhat smooth.

Thanks to all my reviewers! I-Believe-In-The-Butterflies, bfan2good4u, PrincessSparkle09, mel, Abby,Wherefore L'amour,Doves30, kursk,jann Lamonde nuemann, Samantha P,vicky, Krystal, fatallyyoursxx.

Huge thanks to friendsfan808 and octobersmoke for your long reviews - they always make my day!

And especially Candy.07 and Quicksilvre, you two have reviewed every chapter so far!

And finally to cdgeiger and crazymack69, thanks for helping me out you guys!


	5. Without You

**Seceding Link  
**Ch 5: Without You  
**By Somebody's Angel**

I was going insane. It had been a week since Seth and I arrived back in Newport, and in those seven days the only face-to-face human contact I had had was with my father and a drunk Marissa.

Just as I had suspected, Seth had been grounded from visitors as well as going out – for a month. And I was suddenly at a loss for things to do. Shopping and sunbathing sucked alone, and Marissa was too content drowning her sorrows in alcohol and boys to worry about my lack of companionship. That's right, Marissa was back to her party-girl ways and had found herself without a boyfriend for the first time in…well, ever. She had quickly gained my somewhat paradoxical previous reputation as a "frigid slut" – hooking up but going no further than second base. I had been to more parties in the past week than in the previous two months – either dragged along by Marissa or following her there in an attempt to prevent her from doing something she'd later regret.

Days were the worst. My father was working, Marissa nursed her daily hangover – though why she still had hangovers was a mystery to me, she had been drunk enough times – and Seth was unavailable. I found myself doing summer reading for AP English to keep myself from complete and utter boredom.

I missed Seth more than I wanted to admit. Two weeks alone with him had left me struggling to sleep without the daily 'exercise' we had engaged in while away. I had hidden my alarm clock days ago, no longer able to put up with the red numbers glowing obnoxiously at me at all hours of the morning. I had no trouble sleeping once I actually slipped into dreamland – it was the transition that was time consuming.

Between the trouble getting to sleep and ensuring Marissa got home safely, I was often awakened by Seth's mid-morning phone call – at around 11am. We spoke everyday, most often twice a day – he called me in the morning, I called him in the evening after dinner with my father. I had learned very quickly that his late-morning call – in fact all of his calls during this grounding – were best taken when I was alone in my bedroom.

Despite the naps I took during the afternoons, it seemed I was always exhausted – once I even fell asleep reading, something I had never done before, not that I used to read all that much anyway.

_There's no way I'm chasing Coop tonight_, I thought as I lay on the couch watching _Charlie's Angels_ – one of the best ass-kicking chick flicks ever made – and eating an orange. I don't like oranges normally, but lately I'd been craving all kinds of weird things – well, things that I normally wouldn't eat, like tomatoes. Sure I like tomato sauce, but not fresh tomatoes, and not held in the hand to be eaten like an apple.

Aside from my weird cravings, I wasn't eating all that much either. I ate dinner with my dad most nights – and the stepmonster when she wasn't yet passed out from her daily cocktail of prescription drugs – but I had to practically force the food down my throat, lest he accuse me of being anorexic. It wasn't like I was intentionally starving myself; I just wasn't hungry – at least not for an entire meal. I wasn't exactly rejoicing at the pounds that were falling off either – I happen to like my curves, and I know for a fact that boys like them too.

When Marissa – on the one occasion I had managed to drag her out of the house before sundown – commented on my increased irritability and the pale color of my skin despite a day of sunbathing, I had thought that I might be pregnant. I had panicked for ten minutes before pain wracked my abdomen and I was reminded of how much I hate my period.

I clutched my stomach as a bolt of pain shot through it, momentarily distracting me from Cameron Diaz making a fool of herself on the dance floor. _Goddammit,_ I thought as I breathed deeply through the cramp. As the throbbing subsided, I wished Seth were here, so he could comfort me thought the cramps,_ my god, I **am** turning into Marissa!_ I was horrified to have even contemplated having my boyfriend comfort me I wasn't some pathetic, helpless girl who relied on men. But then I realised that wishing Seth was with me wasn't because I was weak – it was because I wanted to share every aspect of my life with him, not just the good parts. _Share my life with him? What the hell?_ There were way too many serious implications for that kind of thinking, so I shook the thought from my mind and turned my attention back to the movie – Lucy Liu was now avoiding machine gun fire to her boyfriend's trailer, _and I thought I had problems_.

* * *

"I can't do it, Sandy," Kirsten said as she watched Seth play with his cereal. The teenager was so involved in his own thoughts that he didn't hear his mother, though she stood a mere eight feet away. 

"Do what?" Sandy asked as he schmeared cream cheese on his bagel.

She pointed at Seth with her coffee cup. He stared indolently at the wall, tapping his fingertips on the edge of his bowl.

Before either of his parents could say anything, Seth stood and walked to the sink to deposit his bowl. He silently exited the kitchen, shuffling his feet as he made his way up the stairs.

Sandy and Kirsten watched their newly-silent son as he passed them without a glance nor a word. When they heard his bedroom door close they turned to look at one another. The past two weeks had been a lesson in loneliness for both Seth and his parents. He and Summer had long conversations on the phone twice daily, but when Seth wasn't on the phone he was either in his room with the door closed, or in the living room playing Playstation. Sandy and Kirsten hadn't realised exactly how much Ryan had affected Seth's life – not just in the way of bringing him out of his shell, but also having someone else his own age that he could talk to. Try as he might Sandy could not coerce his son into meaningful conversation, and while Kirsten had much more success in getting Seth to talk to her, she had no idea how to respond to most of the things he told her – apart from advice about his feelings for Summer, she was way out of her depth in the resolution of adolescent problems.

So now she was caving. "He's so miserable. He needs some companionship," she began, "-from someone his own age!" she continued as Sandy opened his mouth to protest. "I'm not saying we should lift his punishment altogether, just allow him to have the girls over."

Sandy nodded, knowing she was right – as much as they needed to punish Seth for running away, this kind of punishment was almost as bad for them as it was for him. The only time Sandy had seen his normally permanently grinning son with anything resembling a smile was when he was on the phone with Summer – not that he had glimpsed him talking to her all that often, for he respected his son's wish for privacy.

"Should we-" Sandy was cut off by a wave of his wife's hand as she indicated that she was on the phone.

* * *

I was just pulling into the driveway of my house, after yet another failed attempt to pull Marissa from her drunken stupor, when my cell rang. Placing the car in park, I turned off the motor and glanced at the display. _Cohen. Perfect timing._ It was around the right time for his call, and I had gotten a good night's sleep for once, having slept next to a warm body for the first time in two weeks. Marissa hadn't gotten _totally_ smashed before I'd gotten to her place last night, and I had managed to convince her to stay in by the promise of a sleepover, which meant that we fell asleep in her four-poster bed around midnight, the television still blaring when we awoke this morning. 

With a smile gracing my lips I lifted the phone to my ear, "Wait a sec, Cohen, I've just gotta go inside."

"Hey Summer, it's Kirsten." Came a decidedly non-Seth voice, and my face immediately grew hot as I realised which Cohen was on the phone.

"Omigod, sorry Mrs Cohen."

"It's fine." I could hear the laughter in her tone, "And how many times have I told you to call me Kirsten?"

"Sorry, Kirsten." I corrected myself. "So what's up? Is Cohen OK?" Even when talking to his parents I sometimes slipped up and called him by his last name – the name 'Seth' felt so weird on my lips at this non-crucial time.

"Seth's fine, sweetie. Actually I was wondering if you'd like to come over and keep him company today."

My hand stilled on my front door knob. Hadn't Seth been grounded for a month? His video game ban had been lifted four days into exile, and it wasn't hard to figure out why his parents had given in so quickly – stranded in the house without any contact with anyone his own age, Seth would have fast become sullen and listless, especially with no video games with which to take out his frustrations. Having been witness to the happier, more-upbeat Seth that Ryan had brought out, his return to the old-Seth would have undoubtedly caused his parents much distress. I had no doubt that this latest concession was for similar reasons, but I still had to ask, "Has it been a month already?"

This time I heard her laugh, "No, it's only been two weeks, but-"

I cut her off, "-Cohen's bored and listless and you can't stand to see him like that."

I could almost heard her grin as she exhaled, "Exactly."

"Sure, I'd love to come over. He's still grounded, right?"

"Yes, still grounded, so no more little trips." Much as she tried to hide it, there was no mistaking the sadness in her tone as she spoke of our escapade, and I knew it had hurt both Cohens more that they were letting on.

"I promise we won't leave the property." I responded solemnly, please with myself for saying 'property' instead of 'house' – this way we could hide in the poolhouse and (hopefully) not be interrupted. But I wasn't planning on spending the entire time locked away in a bedroom, even thought I was craving Seth's touch more than anything. After we had reunited in Vegas I had initiated the 'no sex' rule because I didn't want our relationship to be based on sex. And though I had eased up on the rule while we were away, our return to Newport meant we also returned to the rules.

As much as it was torture to sit in one of our rooms and _not_ give in to our teenage hormones, our relationship grew stronger because of it. Yes we spent a substantial amount of time staring at one another and imagining ways to relieve the sexual tension – well that was what I imagined, but from the way Seth had looked as though he wanted to devour me I'd guess he thought along the same lines – but when we weren't looking through one another's clothes we talked a lot. For the first time in our relationship we talked about our own lives and feelings – well Seth talked about his feelings, I still didn't like talking about that kind of stuff. But I told him about my life; my friendship with Marissa – most of which he already knew, as he had been watching me, and consequently Marissa, for most of our schooling life – and my parents' divorce. That had been why I was so upset that he would even think about leaving me, after I broke character and told him how much my mother had hurt me when she basically told me straight out that she didn't want to be a mother and she was moving to another country. He had held me while I cried the tears I had never let myself cry in the six years since she'd left. He had deciphered my sobbing declarations as to how much I resented her for abandoning me, and whispered promised in my hair that he would never leave me…a promise that he had violated the moment he set foot on that dock.

Marissa had asked me how I could trust him after he had broken the most important promise he had ever made to me. I still didn't have a proper answer. I don't know why I forgave him, or why he gained my trust back so quickly…maybe it was that although he had had the intention to abandon me, he hadn't actually done so…or maybe he had earned it back with his explanation as to why he felt he had to leave, combined with his actions in Catalina, which proved he wouldn't ever really leave me.

A dial tone in my ear startled me out of my reminiscing, and I realised my conversation with Mrs Cohen had ended a while ago.

Extracting the key from the lock, I pushed open the door and disabled the alarm. I looked down at my outfit and decided to shower and change before I went over to see Seth. _Cohen…_suddenly I realised I'd better take a _cold_ shower, lest I jumped Seth as soon as I laid eyes on him. _I am so gonna rock his world._

After my shower I rifled through my closet, trying to find the perfect outfit that would rile Seth but not seem too slutty to his parents. When there were more clothes on my bed and floor than in my wardrobe, I finally found the right outfit; a black denim mini and a pink-and-white striped polo – the mini was short but not so short it barely covered my ass, and the shirt was tight and the neckline revealed a hint of cleavage, but the sleeves and collar made it more suitable. I put my hair into Seth's favorite do – half-up, half-down – and braided the up half. As I was securing the braid with a pink hairband, I realised that I was doing another thing I hated about girls who depended on their boyfriends for everything – I was dressing to please him. I stopped and stared at myself in the mirror, unable to fathom how I had turned into _that_ girl. But I quickly realised that although Seth did love my hair this way, I wasn't _just_ doing it for him – I loved it this way too – free enough to swish around (I had learned early in life that a flick of their hair could do wonderful things to boys' interest), yet also controlled enough that I didn't have to push it out of my eyes every ten seconds. It wasn't too severe, yet it stayed in placed pretty well, so that I didn't have to re-do it after a kiss from Seth, whose hands inevitably wound up playing with my hair every time. _Omigod, I can't believe I spent **that** long thinking about the merits of my favorite hairstyle. I really am turning into a Newpsie!_

I comforted myself by remembering that there was no way Seth would let me morph into the very epitome of the town he hated, so I figured as long as he was around, I was safe. _Now Cohen's my safety net?_

I quickly stopped analysing my relationship with Seth in favor of studying the boy himself. A swipe of lipgloss completed my minimal makeup – no need to go all out, I knew we weren't going out in public, and a full face would only get smeared during the practice of the fun 'activities' I had visualised in my many daydreams.

Smoothing my outfit, I took one last glance in the mirror before turning to grab my pruse of the bed. The undone clasp saw my cellphone fall out, and as I watched it bounce on the pink sating of my bedspread I realised that Seth hadn't yet called. _Maybe he called while I was in the shower,_ I thought and, though I knew it was unlikely, as I had taken the phone into the bathroom with me in anticipation of such an event, I checked the screen just in case. It was black – out of battery.

"Dammit!" I _just_ restrained myself from hurling the offending object across the room, reminded it had more than served its purpose over the past two weeks.

_Oh well, this way I can keep my visit a surprise until I get there._ I knew there was no way I would have be able to keep from blurting out the news if I spoke to Seth on the phone, and while Mrs Cohen hadn't specifically told me, I knew she wasn't going to tell him either. _The look on his face when he sees me if going to be **priceless**_, I thought wickedly as I slid my feet into white flip-flops and made a mental note to put the phone on to charge while I was driving.

* * *

As I approached the Cohen residence a nervous feeling in my stomach increased in intensity. _Why the hell am I so nervous? It's not like I'm seeing him for the first time after, like, five years – though I swear it's been at least a year – and I know he still feels the same way about me – or at least he did yesterday…so why do I feel like I'm about to puke?_

For once the melodic tones of Kelly Clarkson did nothing to soothe my anxiety, and my fingers gripped the steering wheel harder and harder. _Just **relax**, Summer,_ I told myself.

Suddenly the cream house came into view on the hill, and I felt the nervous feeling explode into butterflies. My fingers relaxed their grip and I realised I wasn't nervous, I was excited. I hadn't seen my boyfriend in two whole weeks, and I couldn't wait to see his gorgeous brown eyes lock onto mine, not to mention his hands…_wait a sec…_ a sudden realisation ripped the thought of Seth's touch from my brain, _Cohen's got brown eyes, but his parents both have **blue** eyes…how the hell did that happen?_ We had learnt some genetics in biology this year, and one of the best examples of recessive genes was blue eyes vs. brown eyes. Two blue-eyed parents carried four recessive, blue-eyed genes, so how had Seth gotten brown eyes? The first thought was that Seth wasn't Mr Cohen's son, but I dismissed the idea immediately, _Cohen looks **way** too much like Mr Cohen for them not to be related. There's gotta be another explanation._ But further contemplation of the issue was halted as my auto pilot had just turned my car into the Cohen's driveway.

The butterflies – which had quietened down during my pondering over Seth's eye color – returned full force, and it felt so real that I was surprised there were no actual butterflies flying around the car – that that they would have stayed _in_ the car, being as I had the top down, but that was not the point.

I rang the bell and heard Mrs Cohen yell out, "Seth, can you get the door please?" I had rung her from the car to tell her I was on my way, and we had concocted a little plan to get Seth to open the door.

"I'm busy mom, get dad to do it!" Came the somewhat muffled reply – Seth was obviously in the living room, probably playing Playstation. The second I heard Seth's voice, the fluttering in my stomach ceased, as if his voice was chloroform and all the butterflies had surrendered to unconsciousness at the introduction.

I grinned when I heard Mrs Cohen's response to her son; "Dad's busy with me." I could almost _see_ the disgusted look on Seth's face, and had to hastily compose myself when I heard his footsteps in the hall.

However the smile quickly reappeared when I saw Seth's shocked face, and I wished I had had the presence of mind to bring a camera with me. His lips promptly curled into a grin to rival my own the moment he realised who I was.

"Surprise." I said simply, my voice illustrating my happiness to see him.

"Summer," he replied, clearly still in shock. He stood frozen and staring for a good two minutes before I gave up waiting for him to make the first move and flung my arms around him.

The feel of his body against mine was ever better than I had fantasised about. He was strong, warm, soft and hard at the same time – soft enough to sink into yet enough muscle definition to arouse. After a moment of paralysis Seth responded to my hug, enclosing me in his arms and sending a warmth through me that felt sooo good, even though the weather was stiflingly hot.

Finally I had to let go, we couldn't stand outside his house hugging for the rest of the day. Seth seemed as reluctant to let go as I was, keeping a hold of my hand as he led me into his cool house. _Ah, blessed air conditioning!_

As we walked I looked at my boyfriend. He looked somewhat skinnier than the last time I had seen him, and I knew that loneliness was probably the one thing that could make Seth lose his appetite.

We moved through the kitchen and into the living room, where Seth was set up for a full day of Playstation – orange juice and Doritos lying beside the abandoned controller He quickly turned off the television and game console before turning back to me, looking rather sheepish that I had caught him acting like pre-Ryan Seth Cohen.

"So…not that I'm not ecstatic to see you, but why are you here?"

"You were acting so pathetic your mom couldn't stand to see you miserable anymore." I replied, hitting him none-too-gently on the shoulder. "You're still grounded, but now you can have visitors." I grinned and sided closer to him, "so we have to stay on the Cohen property."

"On the property?" He repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Not just the house?" He smirked at me mischievously before pulling me close.

For a moment I enjoyed the feel of his body against mine once again, before his lips cascaded down on mine and I lost all rational thought. I hadn't realised exactly _how_ much I had missed him until I felt his kiss. I know it sounds incredibly clichéd, but it felt like I had come home.

Seth seemed content to keep the kiss soft, but my body was craving more, so I lightly traced the line of his bottom lip in request for entrance to his mouth. His lips parted almost immediately and the kiss would have become more intense had we not been interrupted. We parted, but continued staring at one another until Mrs Cohen cleared her throat a second time.

When we tore our eyes off one another we saw Mrs Cohen looking stern and Mr Cohen attempting to hide a smile. Seth squeezed my hand in reassurance, and I glanced at him, seeing my wide grin reflected in his handsome features. Turning back to the firing squad, I was surprised to see both Seth's parents smiling widely. _They're happy they caught us making out?_ Then I realised they were staring at Seth, _no, they're happy their son is happy._

"Hi." I said shyly, embarrassed at what we had been caught doing, even though they didn't seem to have any problem with it.

"Hey, Summer. Long time no see." Mr Cohen said, grin still in place and eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Yeah, sorry about…that." I indicated to mine and Seth's clasped hands with my free one, and Mr Cohen raised a hand.

"Don't worry about it. I know how much Seth's missed you, I can only imagine you feel similarly." Mrs Cohen spoke for her husband, and I wondered if Seth and I would ever be able to read one another's minds like that.

"We were just coming in to tell you that we're going out for lunch." Mr Cohen added, his tone leaving no doubt as to why they were doing so. "We'll be back before dinner."

I could see that Mrs Cohen wanted to comment, but her husband steered her gently away with an arm around her back before she could actually form the words.

"Well that was subtle." Seth remarked as we heard the front door close.

I turned to face him with a sultry look, "We're alone, Cohen. Don't comment on the how and why." I disengaged my fingers from his and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him soundly.

We continued kissing as we moved through the house, up the stairs and into Seth's bedroom, unconsciously trailing clothes along the upstairs hallway.

An hour later we were snuggled in one other's arms, revelling in the feeling of oneness that lingered even after our bodies parted. He ran his fingers over my bare back and watched the shiver travel through my body in reaction to his touch.

"Hey. Stop that…I'm comfy here. No distraction from bliss." I said contentedly, loving the feel of being in his arms.

"Bliss, huh? A guy could get a big head from a statement like that."

I smirked at Seth as he kissed my lips lightly then nuzzled closer. "We can talk about me giving head later." I replied, deciding to push a little to see if I could embarrass him – always a pretty easy accomplishment.

Seth startled and said, "I didn't…" and I giggled at his confusion.

"Got ya!" I cried, kissing his nose.

"Yeah, you do," he said, wrapping his arms around me in a full body hug.

I sighed happily, amazed at how everything was the same as before, but better. _How is it even possible for something to be the same but better?_ I dismissed the thought, too sated and comfortable to think actual coherent thoughts at that very moment. _I've got him…and he has me._

* * *

Two weeks later, I was making out with Seth in his bedroom, repeats of _The Valley_ on in the background, when I heard the phrase. 

"_You know, it's possible to still get your period when you're pregnant."_

My hands on Seth's belt stilled the second I heard the word 'pregnant', and he continued kissing me for a moment before he realised I had gone rigid.

"Summer?" His voice, and his fingers on my bare waist felt a million miles away, as the words of the television character echoed in my head.

…_still get your period when you're pregnant…_

…_period when you're pregnant…_

…_you're pregnant…_

…_pregnant…_

…_pregnant…_

"Jay?" He sounded scared now, and the tone pulled me out of my stunned silence.

I focused on his face, looking into his worried brown eyes, and forced a smile, even as my heart was thumping out of my chest. I had no idea if the statement was true, but the mere possibility was freaking me out.

"I…I just realised that I was supposed to…meet Coop." I said, getting off Seth. It was a lame excuse, and I could see in his eyes that he didn't believe me.

"But you…we were…" Seth didn't really make an attempt to call me on it, only mildly protesting as I slipped my shirt over my head.

"I'll call you later." I assured him, kissing him lightly before exiting the room as fast as my legs could carry me.

He made no attempt to follow me as I flew down the stairs and out the door, almost crashing my BMW into Mr Cohen's car as I raced out of the driveway and he entered.

When I got home I ignored my stepmother, who was passed out in the living room, and went straight to my bedroom, flopping down onto the bed as I covered my mouth with my hands and screamed. I continued screaming, using a pillow to further muffle the noise, until my voice was hoarse and my pillow was wet with tears I hadn't known I was crying.

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, and logged onto the internet to confirm my suspicions. Sure enough, there it was in black-and-white on a reputable medical website: "some women continue to have menstrual periods during the first few months of pregnancy". I sat there in shock, staring at the words that had the potential to change my life. An hour ago I was sharing some quality time with my boyfriend, happily oblivious to the life changing events that were to follow.

It wasn't like we'd ever had unprotected sex – drunk Seth always passed out long before we got to the point of requiring protection. Then again, condoms were only around 99 percent reliable. _Just my luck to be part of the one percent who get pregnant through a condom! Cohen must have some virile stuff!_ I smiled at the thought despite the seriousness of the situation, moving away from my desk.

The reality of it all hit me in the next second, and I began freaking out. Seth and I had created a _person_, a baby that was currently growing inside me. My hands drifted to my stomach unconsciously, and I glanced down when I felt the touch on the band of skin between my shorts and top. Pulling up the white tank, I watched my hands as they caressed the flat, tanned surface, turning sideways so I could examine myself in the mirror. Try as I might I couldn't imagine my abdomen swollen with child.

_Omigod, I'm sixteen and pregnant. My dad's gonna disown me. Cohen will leave me, and I'll have to drop out of school, and…_ I shook my head furiously, trying to gain back some semblance of composure. No-one but me knew about this baby – there was nothing to say I couldn't abort without anyone knowing. But as much as I couldn't imagine myself as a teenage mother, there was no way I could just get rid of it either. _Wait a sec…I don't even know if there actually is an 'it' yet._ I reminded myself, moving back to my bed.

I had passed a pharmacy on the way home, but knew that if I went in and bought a pregnancy test anywhere in Newport Beach everyone would know that Summer Roberts thought she was pregnant. _How am I gonna tell Cohen?_ I asked myself, giving up all attempts not to think about the possibility without knowing for sure.

* * *

The next morning I returned to the Cohen house, intent on talking to Seth. The front door was unlocked, as it often was on a Saturday, and I let myself in, calling out to Seth as I did so. He didn't respond, so I began searching the house for him. 

The kitchen and living room proved fruitless, and I was just about to continue my hunt upstairs when I heard the sound of someone retching. Following the sound, I discovered that it was emanating from Mr & Mrs Cohen's first-floor bedroom suite. I knocked on the door, only for it to swing open silently under the light pressure of my knuckles.

"Hello? Mrs Cohen? Mr Cohen?" I said, remaining in the doorway – my father had taught me never to enter a bedroom without permission. "Is everything alright?"

The toilet flushed and Mrs Cohen exited the ensuite, hand to her mouth. "Oh, hi Summer, come on in."

"Are you alright, Mrs Coh-Kirsten?" I corrected myself when I saw her tilt her head at me. "I heard someone vomiting."

"I'm fine, sweetie." She replied, and her sincere expression had me pretty much convinced…until she turned pale and rushed back into the bathroom that is.

Following her, I watched as she threw up what seemed like the entire contents of her stomach. I filled a glass of water and handed it to her when she finished, worry gnawing at my stomach. "You sure you're OK?" I asked, helping her up.

She stood for a moment, swaying, before placing a hand to her forehead and sitting down heavily on the stool next to the bathtub. "Whoa, I think I stood up too fast." She commented, and then turned her eyes to me, still standing awkwardly by the sink.

I knew my eyes reflected the worry I was feeling, and made no attempt to hide it – she was like the mom I had never had, and I wanted her to know that.

"I'm fine, Summer." She began, patting the side of the bathtub in an invitation for me to sit. "Really, I'm not sick." She added, seeing my sceptical look.

"Then what's up with the puking?" I asked, cringing inwardly at how blunt it sounded out loud.

She smiled affectionately, taking my hand as I moved to sit next to her. "It's morning sickness." She said simply.

My mouth dropped open in shock. Morning sickness? Meaning… "you're pregnant?"

She nodded. "I haven't actually taken a test yet, but I…I just know. I can feel it." Moving to the cabinet under the sink, she retrieved a small paper bag; similar to the one I carried in my purse. She sat back on the stool, bag in her lap. "I had to go all the way to Irvine to buy it, coz I knew that if I bought it in Newport…"

"Someone would see, and then the whole town would know." I finished for her, reaching into my purse to pull out my own paper bag. "I bought mine in Santa Ana."

Mrs Cohen's head jerked up so suddenly it was as if it was on a string. "You're…" She trailed off, unable to fathom her teenage son being a father.

I shrugged, looking down, "I dunno. I haven't had any morning sickness or nausea, but I have had some other symptoms." I saw the questioning look in her eyes, and sighed as I took the box out of the bag, "I don't have the guts to take it. What if it's positive? What am I gonna do? My father would never forgive me, and Seth…"

I didn't realise I was crying until I felt Mrs Cohen wipe away my tears. "Oh, Summer." She murmured, wrapping her arms around me. "Everything will be OK. Sandy and I will support the two of you, no matter what happens." She rubbed my back soothingly, allowing me to let out all of my emotions. When I finally calmed down she tilted my head so she could look me in the eyes, "You don't even know if you are pregnant, sweetie. Why don't you take the test, and we can figure everything out once we know with a little more certainty."

I shook my head, "I can't do it."

She tightened her arm around me, "Sure you can. But if it'll make you feel any better, I'll go first, OK?" She gently pushed me out the door, leaving no more room for discussion.

The door was only closed for two minutes, during which I sat on the king-sized bed and stared into space. I had finally told someone and, rather than allow me to relax, the confession had only led to more anxiety. Before I could analyse any more possibilities, I heard the taps shut off, and Mrs Cohen exited the bathroom.

"I left yours on the sink." She said simply, pressing me forward when I hesitated.

Though I was wracked with nerves, I managed to complete the test, and unlocked the door to allow Mrs Cohen back into her own bathroom. She retrieved her test from under the sink, placing it on the other end of the counter to mine. We sat in silence on the edge of the bathtub, both staring at the little white sticks that would decide our future.

Finally the timer on my cellphone went off, and we cautiously moved toward the sink, apprehension about the result overruling my fear of what was to come. Flashes of my life were running through my head as I anticipated the worst – not that I knew which was worse, positive or negative. Mrs Cohen gripped my hand as we first peered at our own results then, wordlessly, checked the other test.

Blue and pink.

A blue line and a pink plus.

* * *

Don't hate me! (dodges things thrown at her) I _promise_ this isn't going to be another "Summer-gets-pregnant-during-the-summer-and-runs-away-to-mom" or even a "Summer-gets-pregnant-she-and-Seth-get-married-while-still-in-school-and-live-happily-ever-after". I do have a pretty good idea about the results of the tests, but would love to hear your ideas. And I'm sorry but I misled a few people with the comment about getting into the plot now…does a random series of events that help Summer figure out she's in love with Seth count as a plot? What I actually meant was that people other than S/S are going to play a part in the storynow, and yes, there will be some drama, but only a little… 

Also I really hate this chapter title, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to everyone for reviewing: kursk, nefftys, Little Ms.Vixen, xXxobSETHedxXx, adambrody10, Danielle, lexylog, crazymack69, June.Louise, friendsfan808, Doves30, I-Believe-In-The-Butterflies, fatallyyoursx, Caitlyn Rose

octobersmoke, cdgeiger, Wherefore L'amour thanks for your long reviews – I always love reading what you guys have to say, coz you say so much!

As for you, Jay, get your dirty mind out of the gutter! I _didn't_ mean it like that!


	6. What He Doesn't Know

**Seceding Link**

Ch 6: What He Doesn't Know…

**By Somebody's Angel**

I stared at the stick that would inevitably change my life forever, no matter the result. The colors and symbols registered in my brain, as did the meanings behind them, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. I felt my legs collapse, and I crumpled to the floor, bringing the test, box and a royal blue washcloth with me.

I didn't know whether to be ecstatic or relieved, sad or annoyed. All I could think about was Seth, and what he would think, how he'd react. It wasn't like we'd ever talked about it, about the future at all. We had just been having fun; committed to one another but with no plans for the future of our relationship. I knew that it was more to do with me than Seth – he hadn't wanted to freak me out while we were getting to know one another – but now I had no choice but to think about the future. I hugged myself, and wished for nothing more than to feel Seth's arms around me. There was no question that this test would change our relationship, the question was in what way – would Seth he happy about this result, or upset?

Myself, I was unsure about my feelings; as much as I couldn't imagine myself having a baby at sixteen, the past couple of days had forced me to think about the possibility, and I had come to realise that no more could I imagine getting rid of the baby, if there was one.

The bathroom slowly came into focus and as I came out of my reverie, I noticed that Mrs Cohen was kneeling beside me with a concerned look on her face. I heard my name from her lips, and from her expression I could tell that it wasn't the first time she had said it.

"I'm alright." I said, my voice more hoarse than I had ever heard it before, and it scared me that I was so comfortable with Mrs Cohen seeing me so vulnerable. Normally I don't allow anyone to see me sad or scared – the only person to ever see me cry while sober is Seth – but I felt no inclination to hide my fear from his mother.

She didn't say anything else, simply seating herself beside me and enveloping me in her arms. I was amazed at the comfort her hug offered me, and couldn't remember the last time I had felt so consoled without words.

The cream tiles suddenly blurred in front of me, and I realised I was crying, though I had no idea why. Mrs Cohen was crying with me, and I guessed were both just both over emotional. _Though only one of us has an **excuse** for being emotional_, the little voice in my head told me, which only made the tears fall faster.

A door slammed outside and we both pulled back instantly, wiping away our tears.

"That's probably Seth," Mrs Cohen began, "I sent him to the store."

At the mention of his name my face paled and I started panicking, "I don't want to see him – I have to think about this."

"I can show you the way out via the garage, and I'll distract him from noticing your car leaving." She was sympathetic but firm, "But Summer you really should tell him, and soon."

I shook my head stubbornly, "I'm not telling him anything until it's confirmed. No point both of us freaking out til we know for sure."

"These tests are pretty accurate nowadays, about 99 percent."

"So are condoms, and look where that got me." I smiled grimly as Mrs Cohen had no choice but to concede my point.

I caught a glimpse of Seth's curls as I left, and wanted so badly to run into his arms and tell him everything. Restraining myself from this urge caused damp fingermarks on the steering wheel of my car; _you need to think about this, on your own and without his input. There's no point in him knowing until you get the result confirmed. It would only make him freak, and you're freaked enough as it is._

* * *

Four days later Mrs Cohen and I sat in the waiting room of the best obstetrician/gynaecologist in LA. The combination of Caleb's money and my father's reputation had not only gained us an appointment, the lab work was being rushed and the results of our blood tests would be back inside two hours. 

At lunch, while we waited, I had to force the food down my throat, and everything was tasteless anyway. I couldn't stop thinking about Seth and how this would affect our relationship. _Omigod what if the test was wrong?_ The thought raced through my mind and my hands stilled from pushing food around my plate.

I was unable to think about anything else until we were sitting in the doctor's office. Mrs Cohen's words penetrated the haze, and I'm pretty sure I answered all her questions, but I didn't consciously process anything. The doctor smiled at us, and though her expression was warm, all I could feel was coldness.

"I have the results of your tests." _No duh, why else would we have been called into the room,_ I thought. She looked between Mrs Cohen and me and apparently adult females have the power of telepathy, because she continued with my results first. "Ms Roberts, your results indicate that you are not pregnant."

The doctor's mouth continued moving, but the words eluded me – I wasn't pregnant! There would be no huge life changes and Seth would never have to know.

"…anemic." The final word did infiltrate my happiness, and I looked up at her in confusion.

"Anemic?"

"Yes, Mrs Roberts. The symptoms you were experiencing are side effects of anemia, not pregnancy. I've got some information for you on how to increase your iron stores, and a prescription for iron pills."

The initial shock of the results was wearing off, and I realised that while I was still unsure of my feelings about them, Mrs Cohen had yet to hear her own results. Excitement replaced uncertainty as the feeling twisting knots in my stomach as I realised that if my home pregnancy test had been correct there was a good chance hers was too.

Sure enough… "Mrs Cohen, your bloodwork shows that you are eight weeks pregnant."

My own relief was nothing compared to that showing on Mrs Cohen's face. She turned to me, grinning widely, and her joy was so infectious I couldn't help but smile back. She was pregnant! Seth was going to have a baby brother or sister!

* * *

On our way home, prescriptions for pre-natal vitamins and iron pills safely in our purses, I finally broached the question that had been plaguing me ever since I had found out the possibility that Mrs Cohen was pregnant. 

"Mrs – um, Kirsten? May I ask you a personal question?"

She laughed lightly, "Summer we're coming back from a covert operation to confirm the results of our pregnancy tests. I think you've more than earned the right to ask why Sandy and I haven't had any other children."

Her intuition silenced me for a few minutes. I was amazed she had known what was on my mind; I suppose it was what they called mother's intuition. Her hand unconsciously rested on her stomach as she drove one-handed, and I knew that this baby would never be wanting for a mother's love the way I had always wished my mother would come home from work before my childhood bedtime.

I stayed quiet so long that she began to doubt her intuition, "That was what you were going to ask, wasn't it?"

I blushed, "Um, yeah. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." I began to ramble, unable to stop the words escaping, thought Mrs Cohen didn't look as though she was at all shocked at my question. "I mean, I know it's none of my business, and you probably had a really good reason, or maybe you only ever wanted one kid, I just…"

When I finally stopped to take a breath and actually think about what I wanted to say, she broke in, "Summer it's OK. I have no problem with you asking, I was actually surprised you have never asked before this."

"I guess I…just never really gave it a lot of thought until now." I stammered, unnerved that this adult was willing to share something so private.

"After Seth was born, we tried to have another child. At first, nothing happened, but then after about six months of trying I did conceive." Though I was tempted to interrupt with what would undoubtably be a stupid question, I resisted the urge, knowing that the enquiry would probably be answered if I stayed quiet. "I lost the baby ten weeks in. The next miscarriage was at two months, and the following at 15 weeks. And though it was heart breaking every time the doctor told us, I was convinced that the next time I would be able to hold the baby in my arms, and it would be worth everything."

She paused to gather her thoughts and I was so stunned by her revelations all I could do was blink at her. It was hard to believe a woman as together as Kirsten Cohen could have gone through such heartbreak. She looked over at me, and I saw that while her voice had barely faltered during her explanation, the tears filling her cerulean eyes showed that she was feeling the emotions all over again. I was about to comfort her when she continued, her voice now waning frequently

"I was right. The fourth time I did get to hold my baby in my arms. I took the pregnancy almost to term, but in the 38th week my daughter…she died in my womb. I held…I held my stillborn baby girl in my arms and I vowed to continue trying until my son…until he had a sibling. Three days after I buried my daughter my father called and told me my mother was dying. I forgot all about my pledge as I sat by her bedside, and it was eventually Sandy who gave Seth a sibling."

Tears were falling freely now, and Mrs Cohen had to pull over to the side of the road, lest her tears obscure her vision. We cried for the children that had never been, the mothers we had lost, and the men waiting for us at home.

* * *

"I'm pregnant," Mrs Cohen said simply as she stood in front of her husband and son and I two days later, "due in January." 

I looked over at Seth beside me. His mouth had dropped open and he was staring at his mother. The speechlessness only lasted for a second, before he was sputtering and babbling unintelligibly at me.

I ignored him, patting his hand patiently and watching Mr Cohen's reaction as I waited for Seth to regain the ability to speak in coherent sentences.

Seth's father was also without words, but there was no mistaking his ecstatic expression as he hugged and kissed his wife. He placed his hand gently on her abdomen and I suddenly felt as if I was intruding upon a private moment, so I turned my attention back to my boyfriend.

"My mom? Pregnant? How?" Was all he could manage, but I had to grin at his flustered expression.

"Well Cohen," I replied, "I'm gonna assume that it happened the same way it happens for most people…"

Seth screwed up his nose and shook his head, "I really didn't need that visual, Summer. That's just gross."

"It is not gross, Cohen, it's awesome!" He raised an eyebrow at me, and I pushed him in the shoulder, "You're going to have a little brother or sister!"

His half-smile had nothing on my wide grin, but it was better than the frown that had tarnished his features a moment ago.

I nudged him in the ribs again, and he turned to his parents, making a sincere attempt to widen his smile. "As much as it disgusts me to think of my parents doing what's necessary for mom to become pregnant, I'm happy that you guys are happy."

Knowing that that was probably the best they would get out of their teenage son, Mr and Mrs Cohen embraced Seth in a three-way hug, causing me to feel like an intruder again.

Mrs Cohen's mother's intuition must have kicked in again, for she extended an arm to me, "Join us, Summer, you helped discover this pregnancy, you deserve to join in the celebrations as well." I smiled shyly and joined the hug, snuggling under Seth's arm.

The ringing phone interrupted the moment, as it was prone to do, and Mr Cohen broke the hug to answer it. Seth pulled me up to his room and sat me down on the bed.

He stood in front of me for a while without saying anything, and I began fidgeting. It had been more than a week since Seth and I had last gone further than first base, and I knew he was beginning to get irritated at my lame excuses for not being alone with him. I had been unable to fathom how a pregnancy would have changed things, and yet the non-conception had done so just as effectively. As much as I felt no need to inform him of the child that wasn't to be, Mrs Cohen's reasons for telling him were equally valid. And after all, how could I expect him to be honest with me when I had kept something so potentially huge from him? I was unsure of my feelings and our relationship now…not to say my feelings for him had changed, just that I now viewed them differently. I knew I still cared for him, a lot, however now I was scared of being intimate with him, for fear it would lead to another scare, or worse, an actual child. Mrs Cohen had told me I should share my fears with Seth, but I hated anyone seeing me anything less than perfectly poised…even my boyfriend had rarely seen me afraid.

"How long have you known?" An uncharacteristically simple, to-the-point sentence from Seth momentarily baffled me, and for a second there I thought he had guessed my secret.

"Known what?"

"How long have you known my mother was pregnant, or thought she was pregnant?" He sat down on the bed beside me, "And how is it that you knew before either my father or me?"

"I've known since she took the home pregnancy test. I came by last week, looking for you, and caught her puking – morning sickness. The test was positive, but she didn't want to tell you guys until she had it confirmed, so I went with her to do that too." Technically lying by omission isn't really lying, right? There was no reason for him to know about my own test.

His response was cut off by his cell phone beeping. When he read the text message he suddenly became excited. "Omigod I totally forgot, we're meeting Ryan at the pier in a half-hour. He just let me know he might be a little late but he's on his way. C'mon we've gotta go!" He grabbed my arm and attempted to lead me out of the room, but I resisted.

"I just gotta go to the bathroom real quick, you go down and get the car started." I pushed him out the door, and closed it behind him, leaning back against it and hugging myself as I heard him walk downstairs. _Omigod what is wrong with me?_ I asked myself, shaking my head to dislodge the vision that had appeared when Seth took my hand. I had seen Seth and myself walking hand in hand with a little girl who had Seth's curls and my eyes…and we didn't look much older than we were now. "It's official, I'm completely insane." I said aloud, and moved towards the window.

Staring out, I watched Seth exit the house and go to the Range Rover, his mother's car keys jingling in his hand.

Mrs Cohen came up beside me and laid a hand on my shoulder, remaining silent as we both observed Seth in the driveway.

"It's weird anyway." I said into the silence, "I haven't told him, but I'm screwing everything up by trying to keep it a secret."

"Then you know what you need to do." Her voice was soothing but firm, and I sighed as I nodded.

Mr Cohen joined us at the window, and all three of us watched Seth out the window as he stood next to the car…trying to balance a bottle of soda on his forehead.

"That…could have been the father of my child." I said and Mr Cohen's head shot up. He'd recently become kind of like my second dad and it definitely came to a head that day.

"What?" He said, turning me by the shoulders to face him. I could only look at him, embarrassed. He took a minute to take in the news.

"Summer, are you pregnant?" He asked and I'm sure that anyone who didn't know him at that moment probably would have thought that he WAS my father. Mrs Cohen's grip on my shoulder tightened, but she didn't speak.

"No, but I thought I was." I replied honestly.

Mr Cohen huffed, but looked relieved. He knew it would be a good idea to step back and try to think rationally for a second. When he'd regained some composure, he turned back to me.

"Does Seth know about this almost-pregnancy?" he asked. I smiled weakly and darted my eyes towards the window. He followed my gaze to look down at the street…where Seth still stood, arms out, focused intently on trying to keep the half-empty soda bottle from falling off of his head. When he had gathered an appropriate amount of data from his son's blissful ignorance, Mr Cohen turned back to me.

"Okay, I'm gonna go with no." He said and rubbed his forehead. I just nodded sideways in agreement and continued to watch Seth's painful display of his age.

* * *

"Summer?" Seth's voice penetrated the light sleep I had fallen into, and I opened my eyes to find him sitting next my legs as I stretched out on the deck chair. 

It was the middle of July, two days after Mrs Cohen's announcement, and the weather had become even more stiflingly hot than usual for Southern California. We were hanging around the pool at my house, Seth's grounding having made him sick to death of his own house. I still hadn't told him about my pregnancy scare, and it was putting a rift between us. He no longer tolerated an excuse from me when I put the brakes on our making out, and simply left the room in a huff. The longer I put it off, the more scared I became, and I was terrified that he would get even more angry with me because I had kept it secret for so long.

I lifted my head and eyed Seth, though he probably couldn't see my eyes through my sunglasses. I placed my hands on his, which rested on my right knee, and pulled myself up fully to look at him more seriously.

Seth smiled reassuringly at me, though his eyes didn't match his gentle tone, "What's up?" His chocolate eyes were daring me to say 'nothing'; he knew there was something going on, and wanted to know what it was, now.

_Okay, its fine. The worst thing that will happen is he'll get a little mad… right? Maybe he won't be mad…no, I'm sure he'll get kind of mad. I really hope he doesn't try and run again, though at least this time I'll know how he'll go. He's gonna know exactly why I've been avoiding him, why I've been so weird lately…it will be fine… I just have to be gentle about it all, introduce it in a delicate way, be sensitive_… I had been silent for a while, and this worried Seth.

He gently removed my sunglasses, looking directly into my eyes as he grabbed my hands and pressed our palms together. "Summer, just tell me already."

And then I lost all delicacy, sensitivity, and eloquence. Though I didn't shout, my voice was nothing less than forceful. "I thought I was pregnant!" I said it all so quickly that the words ran together fluidly.

It took me a split second to realize that I had just delivered the news in the worst way possible, and I covered my face with my hands, leaving Seth's limp in my lap. _Oh yeah, great way to deliver the news, Summer… very sensitive and fragile…_ I thought, shaking my head ever so slightly in my hands.

The air was completely still, with not even a faint breeze to churn the fronds of the greenery that surrounded the property, and there was absolutely no sound. As one excruciatingly long minute _slowly_ ticked over into two, the butterflies in my stomach fluttered faster and faster until it felt like a tornado had erupted in my abdomen. The iron band around my chest forced me to take a breath, and my inhalation was sharp and loud in the silence. Seth's silence stretched into another minute, and finally I spread my fingers and peeked through to glance at him. I could still feel his hands limp in my lap, and his face somehow mirrored his hands, if that was even possible: his jaw hung a bit loosely, his eyes were wide and distant.

"Cohen…?" I asked quietly, peeling my hands off my face one finger at a time, placing them on my thighs, carefully avoiding his if I could for a moment.

"Yeah," his reply was just as soft, but the fractured stillness succeeded in snapping him out of the shock-induced trance my declaration had forced him into.

"You um—you heard me, right?" My fingers were twisting themselves into a tangible replica of my stomach, though I was now breathing relatively normally again.

"Yeah," he said in the same tone, still just as incredulous.

_Okay, Summer, time to bring out the sensitivity while begging for forgiveness and understanding…_ "So you heard how I so, so, so, sooo inconsiderately shouted at you that I _thought_ I was pregnant," I stated again.

Seth stared straight in front of him, his gaze boring a hole in my chest, just above my breasts. "Yeah, I'm—" His breath caught in his throat, and I knew his mouth was as dry as mine had become in the past minutes. He swallowed before continuing, "I'm just processing."

"Okay," I said quietly, sitting back to allow him time to 'process' it all. He still hadn't moved a non-facial muscle, and try as I might I couldn't help but smile – I don't think anyone has ever rendered Seth speechless for so long. The second I did so I remembered exactly what it was that had caused him to be without words, and my grin disappeared.

He was mumbling now, and I didn't attempt to understand what he was saying; I knew that Seth didn't process in his head, he had to hear the questions out loud, but they were for him and him alone. Despite my attempt at feigning non-interest, I couldn't help but hear some of the words he said – I was sitting less than two feet away, after all – though the words 'trollop' and 'sister' didn't have any obvious connection to the news I had so recently foistered upon him.

After a minute or so of this, I simply could not take it and said his name once more to get him to speak.

"What—how, when?" he said out loud, finally meeting my gaze. His tawny eyes were filled with so many emotions I couldn't begin to identify them all.

"Well, if you don't know how I doubt we'd be in this situation in the first place," The sarcasm wasn't needed, as his tone clearly stated when he said my name.

I sighed deeply, and looked down as I began my tale, "Well, I've been having these weird cravings, and a loss of appetite and stuff. Then Coop commented on my bitchyness and the fact that I hadn't gained a speck of color despite being in the sun the entire day. She actually asked me flat out if I could be pregnant, but I had…well you know, it was that time of the month. So I was like "no way", and everything was cool, until a week ago when April found out she was six months pregnant despite not having missed a period." I didn't even have to explain what I meant, Seth was so accustomed to my habit of combining reality with Valley-life.

"I checked it out, and found out it was possible, and more so in teenagers. So then I spent a few hours completely at a loss for all sanity… I mean, I was stupid Cohen! Really, really stupid. I thought you'd be gone and I didn't tell you so it just made me freak more…And then I found your mom puking, and she thought she was pregnant and I was too scared to take my test, and then I didn't trust the result and…" My voice had risen severely somewhere in the middle of my long, long rant. I realized this and took a deep breath, letting all remaining anxiety out as best as I could. I decided it was best if I just wrap it all up, for my sake and Seth's, judging by the very lost look on his face by the massive amount of information I had just spewed out.

I sighed, "But then the doctor confirmed it was negative – I'm anemic, by the way – and then your mom was pregnant and I…well I was still scared. I didn't want it to change things between us, but…" My voice sounded drained of energy when I spoke, and I took a deep breath when I ended. I was sure my face reflected my sadness at my last statement, and it took everything in my to hold back the tears.

Seth's face had made several expressions during my little speech: shock, confusion, amusement, disappointment, hope…but anger never registered – at least not that I could see. I hoped he wouldn't be too angry. He couldn't be, after all, or else he'd simply by a hypocrite; he had planned to run away without telling me – planned to leave me a note to explain! _Not that running away is the same as a baby…well, kind of,_ I thought. _It's a big, life-altering thing. And it's changed our relationship forever…No, I don't think he's mad,_ I could now see in his eyes that the major emotion he was experiencing at the moment was disbelief.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before resuming his staring into my eyes. "So… no?" he asked, still wanting to make sure.

I shook my head. "No Cohen, there is no baby in my uterus." I confirmed almost in an annoyed tone. I knew I shouldn't have been annoyed but I couldn't help it, I was impatient. And Seth was making no attempt to react in any way other than silence and shock. _I **know** it's a lot to take in, but c'mon! I took it in and I would have been the inflated balloon for nine months!_

"Are you mad, Cohen? Is that why you're not talking?" I asked, exasperated.

Seth's hands, previously vegging out on my lap, slowly moved up my thighs and stopped when he reached my hands, gently squeezing. "I'm not mad, Summer," he spoke quietly then paused. Before continuing he took as deep breath, and I was impressed that he was actually thinking about what he wanted to say, instead of his usual practice of letting the words flow unprocessed, "I'm just a little… I dunno. I guess I just feel left out that you didn't tell me. I would have been there, you shouldn't have had to go through that alone, really I—"

"Cohen it wasn't a big deal, I was only thinking it was a possibility for, like, less than a week."

He simply gave me a Look which told me that he wasn't going to buy my tough-girl act; he knew how hard it had been for me, and was annoyed – both at me and at himself – that he hadn't been there for me when he knew I needed him.

He shook his head and closed his eyes shortly before focusing back on me. "Summer, it is a big deal, don't say it wasn't…you need to tell me these kinds of things. And I know I have no right saying anything because, y'know, the attempted escape and all…" Seth shook his head again, this time out of sheer disappointment in himself. I grasped his hand tighter in reassurance, taking in every word he was saying. He held one of my hands tightly and used the index finger of the other to trace patterns on my bare thigh for a moment before continuing, "But we need to tell each other stuff like this because even though it may not seem big to us at the moment…it probably is, Summer. If it affects the both of us, if it is life altering in even the slightest way, we've got to tell each other. We have got to be there for each other and be honest or else well… we just have to be honest from now on," he stated wistfully, knowing better than to bring up breaking up when the chasm between us was not yet fully closed.

My eyes were rimmed with tears, though I didn't let any drop, simply whispering, "You're right…"

Seth caressed the top of my hand with his thumb as he gave me a soft smile. After a moment he spoke again, speaking more calmly than I expected after such a shocking revelation, "I really would have liked to be there for you, even if it was just a scare. You shouldn't have had to deal with that alone. And just…you should have told me…" his voice faded.

"…Yeah, I know," I said sadly. "I did have your mom, and she was great but…"

"Why didn't you?"

I broke his gaze for the first time since he had locked eyes with me, "I just thought you would have run or something," my voice was small, and even as I said it I knew it would never have happened. If anything it would have been me running from a commitment like a child, and from the look in his eyes I could tell he was thinking the same thing. I smiled sheepishly, "Stupid, huh?"

Seth ran his other hand over my forearm, sliding it up and along my shoulder, his skin almost cool compared to the sun's rays. "No, definitely not stupid. Just a little…misplaced anxiety, I guess. I know we haven't talked about the future of our relationship, coz we're only in high school, and this is supposed to be just fun, right?" His smile was totally fake, and we both knew that the feelings we had for one another were _not_ high school crushes. He kissed my temple and smiled reassuringly at me before asking, "And I know me trying to run away wouldn't have been the most reassuring memory, but…you know now I would never leave us, right? No matter what…I mean, you know that, right?" He was almost pleading with me, and I could see the sincerity in his eyes.

I just gazed at the man in front of me with such awe I could squeeze him until he popped. So, I tried to…I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned fully into him, running my fingers through the hair on the back of his head. Seth pulled me in as close as possible, so that my legs wrapped around his waist and I was practically sitting in his lap. He wrapped his arms securely around my torso and ran his palms up and down my back, occasionally dropping kisses on my bare shoulders.

"I know, Cohen, I know all of it…I'm still so sorry though. I'm so, so, so sorry." I whispered as I rested my chin on his shoulder.

"I know you are…" Seth whispered back into my hair.

"But can you ever acc—"

"Apology accepted. Don't worry."

I pulled back and kissed him softly – one of the few kisses I had initiated over the past week. Without his asking – though I could see the question in his eyes – I moved to one side to allow him to share the chair with me, and settled comfortably on his lap…well, as comfortable as I could get with the sun beating down on us. But I was insanely happy that all my apprehension of intimacy had disappeared as soon as I told him, and couldn't stand not to be close to him, even if it was way too hot to be snuggled together.

"You're too amazing, ya know that?" I said, tilting my head up to look at him.

Seth smiled cheekily, "Yeah, I did, actually."

"Oh, I see becoming my boyfriend has turned you into Mr. Modesty."

"Yes well you'd make anyone boastful." He retorted, grinning mischeviously.

I thought for a second before I responded, my tone purposely sceptic, "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or be very offended by it…"

"Take the compliment," He said pointedly encouragingly, and I hit him on the shoulder for even thinking about how it could have been taken offensively.

"Hey!" He yelped like a girl, and I couldn't help but giggle. Scowling playfully at me, Seth effectively silenced my laughter by sliding his lips over mine.

Finally done! So sorry for the extremely long wait – I got caught up in writing _Third Time Around_ (a new chapter of which is coming soon!) – and then I didn't really know what to write for this chap besides the results. Please let me know what you think!

Also, for anyone who reads _Third Time Around_, I'm completely stuck for ideas for 3.12 and 3.13, sucky SS episodes that they were, and would really appreciate some ideas – the more I get the faster I'll be able to write it!

Has anyone else had trouble uploading over the last couple of days? I've been trying to upload this since Thursday night (it's now Saturday morning in Oz), and wasn't able to.


	7. Homecomings, Heat and Holidays

**Seceding Link**

Ch 7: Homecomings, Heat and Holidays

**By Somebody's Angel**

AN: this takes place about three weeks after the end of the last chapter, so it is now the second week in August. Kirsten is now twelve weeks pregnant.

…

I was jealous of Seth. He had managed to do what I couldn't do in three weeks of trying; pull Marissa out of her drunken stupor. It all started when Ryan came back. Yes, that's right, Ryan came back from Chino, for good. Teresa miscarried the baby, and she insisted he come back, because she knew how unhappy he'd been living with her and "realised he will never love me the same way I love him". So she let him go, forced him to go, in fact, because there was no way Ryan was going to leave her in a hospital bed if she hadn't threatened physical violence for him disobeying her wishes. And despite all the reasons why I should hate her for what she did to Ryan, and by default Seth and Marissa, I can't help but admire a girl who is so selfless that she'd rather see her friend happy than have him in a relationship with her knowing that he didn't feel the same way she did. I doubt I'd be able to do that.

But then again, I didn't have to, not for the moment anyway. I knew without a doubt that Seth felt for me everything that I felt for him, and more. In the two weeks since the pregnancy scare we'd been trying to get things back to 'normal', well, as normal as anything ever got around here. We tried not to spend _all_ our time together, because neither of us wanted to end up like Ryan and Marissa were before he left; joined at the hip, finishing one another's sentences and generally being sickeningly cute to anyone who happens to be in our presence. But with Ryan and all the rest of our mutual friends gone (I'd never thought I'd miss Anna the way I have), there was only so much time I could spend alone or in the company of drunk-Marissa (which might as well have been alone, for all the brain stimulation I received while spending time with her) without going completely schizo.

Anyway, when Ryan came back neither Seth nor Marissa wanted anything to do with him. I guess they both blamed him for the way their lives had been turned upside down over the past couple of months, and neither was willing to forgive him very easily. I had huge fights with both of them when they found out I'd been spending time with him, accusing me of choosing him over them. Seth spent two full days at Marissa's new house, succeeding in both pulling her away from the vodka bottle and strengthening the relationship between Ryan and I.

In a way, I'm glad they abandoned him, because it gave me the chance to get to know Ryan Atwood the way I'd never bothered to before. I welcomed him back with open arms, and saw the hurt on his face when Seth refused to do the same (he just turned and walked away when I kicked his ankle as we stood in the foyer of the Cohen home). I understood why he had felt he'd had to go with Teresa, and regardless of how it made the other two feel, I knew he had only been doing what he felt was right; it wasn't his fault his friends couldn't cope without him.

Finally, having spent almost a week hanging out with Ryan almost exclusively and barely speaking to either Seth or Marissa, the two of them appeared at the poolhouse door, interrupting the Playstation battle between Ryan and me. Ryan was a much better video game teacher than Seth – he actually let me play while explaining the rules and controls, unlike Seth, who got frustrated when I messed up simple things and always ended up taking the controller off me to show me how to do a particular move. Ryan would still beat me most times – I raged out on him when he let me win one too many times, so now he played to the best of his ability – but it was no longer the thrashing it once was.

"Ryan? Sum?" Marissa's voice penetrated the fog of competitiveness that surrounded the two of us, and both of our skateboarders crashed simultaneously.

"Marissa." Ryan replied, the relief evident in his voice. He got off the floor and moved slowly towards her.

I smiled at her, but remained silent and unmoving from my position at the foot of Ryan's bed.

"I'm sorry." She said, and I was surprised when she didn't collapse into his arms or dissolve into tears. Instead she hugged him tightly when he came close enough. "I know you were only trying to do what you thought was right. And there are some people that you'll do absolutely anything for. It's like me and Luke; he put me through so much, but he'll always have a special place in my heart because he was my first boyfriend. I understand that Teresa is that person for you, and you needed to help her."

I looked away when they started whispering to one another, locking eyes with Seth. I wasn't sure where we stood now; I hadn't seen him since this morning when we passed one another in the foyer of the Cohen house. When we had spoken over the past week it was only polite hellos and goodbyes, and we hadn't so much as kissed since Seth opened the front door of his house to find his adoptive brother standing on the other side.

The look on his face showed that he was thinking exactly the same thing, and yet as I stared into his eyes I could still see the emotions that were always there when he looked at me; love, lust, awe, happiness and adoration.

I smiled at him, a huge grin that crinkled the corners of my eyes. His eyes lit up at my expression, and he strode towards me, dropping onto the floor next to Ryan's discarded controller.

"I missed you," he whispered a moment before enveloping me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his back, pressing our bodies as close together as possible whilst still sitting side-by-side.

I had missed him too, though I couldn't express the words. As much as I had enjoyed getting to know Ryan better, my nights had been lonely without Seth. Though he wasn't allowed to actually sleep over at my house (or vice versa), he could stay with me for a while – Kirsten's rule was that all boys and girls had to be in separate rooms by curfew, so despite there being more people in the Cohen house, we inevitably ended up spending nights in Seth's room, as it meant we could spend more time together – I had no curfew, had never had one, as long as my father knew whether or not I was going to be home for dinner I could be wherever I wanted. When I didn't spend the night in the Cohen guest room, Seth would always call me before going to sleep, and I often fell asleep to Seth's deep breathing over the phone.

This past week he hadn't called at all, and the night I called him he and Marissa were in the middle of a ferocious game of Scrabble so he couldn't talk for long. I had a much harder time falling asleep without him, with no lullaby from his voice and no 'exercise' from his body.

I was really confused about my feelings – despite hardly seeing him for a week, I was now relishing being in his arms once again. Every other relationship I'd been in had evaporated at the first fight; this was now our second major disagreement and I couldn't wait to make up. I wasn't used to having real feelings for my boyfriend, so the emotions running through my body were foreign, to say the least. And though we'd been dating for more than five months now, I'd never properly thought about how different this relationship was from anything I'd experienced before. Seth's hands were warm against my back, his breath softly moving my hair, and all I could think about was how I never wanted to be without him.

Tears sprang into my eyes before I could halt them, and Seth must have felt the dampness hit his neck, because he pulled away slightly, just enough to look into my eyes. The second he saw my glassy eyes his own chocolate orbs grew concerned.

I smiled through the tears before he could ruin the moment with the inevitable questions, and leaned forward to kiss him softly; our first one for a full six days. It was chaste but passionate, gentle but our lips pressed together hard.

It felt like we kissed forever, but the clock said it hadn't even been a minute when we pulled apart. I stared into Seth's warm brown eyes for a few moments, trying to portray everything I was feeling in that one look, as I knew I'd never be able to verbalise it. From the way his grin widened, I had to assume that he understood at least part of it.

Tearing my eyes away from his, I realised that we were alone in the pool house – Ryan and Marissa must have left while Seth and I were re-connecting

He helped me to my feet, switching off the Playstation as we moved out of the poolhouse, and I relished the warmth of his hand as it clasped mine, never wanting to let go, literally and figuratively.

The separation of our hands came entirely too quickly for my liking, however after a second of mourning the loss of contact I realised what had caused it, and was glad Seth hadn't continued holding onto my hand.

He had nudged me on our way out the door, flirtatiously trying to push me into the door frame. I had bumped back, but his utter lack of co-ordination meant that he tripped over the miniscule step down and fell head-first into the pool.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide open with shock.

He squinted up at me and scrubbed a hand over his face, and I began to laugh in spite of myself. I glanced down at him once more, saw him scowling up at me, and put my hand to my mouth to hide my laughter. "It's not funny," he informed me, treading water in the pool.

"Oh no, I disagree," I giggled, taking a step closer. "I think it's very funny."

Seth shook his head and moved through the water to the side of the pool. "No, see, if the shoe were on the other foot," he explained, making a grab for my ankle, "it would be funny."

I shrieked in terror and pulled my foot away quickly. "Don't you dare," I warned, taking another step back.

"Why not?" He retorted, in the scathingly polite tone that only rich kids could have. He folded his arms on the side of the pool and gazed up at me, his chin set on his forearm. "What are you going to do, throw me in the pool?"

"No," I replied, taking another step away from the edge and sitting down on a deck chair. "But you'd live to regret it."

Seth frowned slightly and tilted his head. "Don't you want to come swimming with me?" he asked innocently.

"No, actually, I don't." I crossed my legs and shook my head. "Now quit harassing me or I'm calling your mother."

"She'd be on my side," Seth reasoned. "She thinks I need to have my friends over more often."

I flashed him a simpering smile. "I'm over, aren't I?"

"She thinks I should have friends over to _swim_ more often," Seth remedied. "Summerrr…"

"Ugh, don't whine," I sighed. "You sound like a little boy."

He grinned. "Don't make me sink to third grade," he warned, drawing his hand back indicatively.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Just watch me," he teased, and patted the water playfully. "You're going to get wet either way…"

"I swear…"

"You spend days alone with my brother, push me in the pool…"

"…to God, Cohen, if you splash me…"

"…I'm just trying to set everything right here…"

"…you will never – shit!" I cried as he splashed me lightly. Standing up quickly, I held up my arms and stared at him in horror – he had wet my new D&G blouse. "You asshole!"

Seth merely grinned gleefully and drifted back in the water. "Whatcha going to do from all the way over there?"

I tried to smooth the drops of water from my skirt, ignoring his words for the moment and enjoying the banter that characterised out relationship – I hadn't realised how much I'd missed our playful bickering until now, remembering how much fun we'd have trying to outdo one another. "You're going to die," I informed him mildly.

"You're scaring me," Seth chuckled, splashing the water in front of him distractedly. He didn't seem at all concerned that he was ruining a $200 pair of jeans, but we both knew that there was hardly anything the housekeeper Rosa couldn't fix when it came to stained laundry. "Honestly."

"I know I am," I replied, trying to resist the urge to jump him – he looked so hot with water dripping off his nose, hair plastered to his forehead. "And to think, I was going to invite you up to my room later," I sighed, sitting back down on the deck chair.

It was the first time we had broached the topic – our physical relationship post-fight – and Seth looked intrigued. "Who says I wanted to?" he questioned, gliding back to my side of the pool.

"Nobody," I commented, patting the top of my head frivolously to ensure that my hair was still up and in place. "But now you lost your chance."

"Did I?" Seth asked. He balled his fists and placed one on top of the other on the side of the pool, resting his chin on top of them. "Too bad for me."

"Yup." I surveyed him with feigned boredom. "Those clothes aren't bugging you?"

"You trying to get my clothes off?" he asked, raising a mischievous eyebrow.

I shrugged and pretended to study my fingernails. "I'm just saying that I wouldn't want to be in a freezing cold pool in jeans," I informed him, "is all."

"It's not freezing, it's nice," Seth told me. "Just come put your feet in, relieve your stress from the day…"

It was too much. Seth, the man I'd been thinking about all day, the boyfriend I'd just made up with after almost a week apart, was begging me to come swimming with him. And the sight of a soaking wet Seth, his blue button-up shirt sticking to his chest flatteringly and beads of water spilling from his hair down his cheeks, was nice to watch…"Fine," I sighed, kicking off my shoes as if it involved a lot of effort. "But you splash me again…"

"I'll be good," he promised, holding up his hands.

"All right." I cautiously sat on a dry spot next to the pool, and dangled my feet over the edge. The water reached halfway up my shins. "Happy?"

"Yes," he grinned, and allowed himself to drift back to the middle of the pool. "You've completed me."

"Ah, well, it was easier than I thought." I was silent for a moment, kicking the wall of the pool underwater with my heels, before I looked over at Seth again. "Why did you get so angry with Ryan when he came back?"

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, and I knew he was asking why I wanted to have this conversation right this very moment.

"It's understandable that Coop would be annoyed with him leaving her for another girl." I shifted uncomfortably in my spot next to the pool. "But you…he didn't actually do anything to you."

"He left," he replied, drifting a little closer to me. "He knew what life was like for me before he came along, and he was my best friend, almost my brother, and was willing to leave everything we'd given him on the remote chance that her baby was his. You know he told me that they used protection, _and_ he only slept with her once – that's not exactly conducive to making babies, even if we are virile teenagers."

"Cohen, don't say virile." I tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but neither of us smiled.

He drifted close enough to me to catch my eye, though I had been trying to avoid his penetrating stare. "I was so scared that you would leave me the same way he did," he said softly.

"I wouldn't have done that to you," I tried to reassure him, gazing purposely into his eyes now. "I've changed over the past year."

Seth gently folded his arms and propped them on my bare knees; I hardly noticed the drops of water spilling down my legs. "But I couldn't be sure – you only noticed me when he came, so why would you have wanted to be with me when he was gone and I had no friends again?" he asked me softly.

"I wouldn't have left you, I didn't leave you." I repeated, gazing down at him and carefully placing my hands on his arms. "I want to be with you," I murmured, pushing his arms off my legs and dunking him below the water the moment the last word crossed my lips.

"Hey!" he cried, fighting for air as I pushed him farther down with my feet. I wrinkled my nose with glee as he finally broke free and sputtered to the surface.

"I told you you'd pay," I reminded him smugly, splashing him with my feet.

But instead of looking at me with indignation, or even an admission of my success, Seth merely flashed me a devilish grin. "Oh it's _on_ now," he informed me and, grabbing my arms with one hand, he splashed me thoroughly.

I squealed in defense and attempted to struggle free, but instead only managed to get wetter as Seth brought wave upon wave of chlorinated water over me with one strong hand.

"All right!" I cried, prying one arm free and shielding my face with it. "You win, you win!"

"Damn right I win," Seth exclaimed, and before I knew what was happening, he'd grabbed my other wrist and pulled me into the pool with him.

And before I fully realized that I was in the pool, I realized I was in Seth's arms, pressed up against his body; chest to chest, hip to hip. It was about the same second he realized it, too – and there was a full second where the world actually stopped.

We stared at each other for a moment, wide grins fading as droplets of water ran down both of our faces. Seth gently released one of my wrists and wrapped his arm protectively around my waist, holding me up, even though they were only in five feet of water. "I win," he murmured, and I could only nod breathlessly as he leaned in to kiss me.

It was a somewhat flimsy kiss, seeing how both of us were floating in the pool and it being, after all, a kiss Seth initiated. The boy may have been romantic and utterly charming in his adoration, but he was still an awkward little kid when it came to making the first move.

But I soon brought my arms up and wrapped them around his neck, and from then on, the kiss was…God, there were no words for it. Amazing didn't do it justice. Incredible sounded lame. Perfect sounded almost sterile to this kiss.

Truth be told, I had felt a little tentative about how our relationship would survive this latest hurdle. Weren't couples supposed to support one another? Take their partner's side over all others? I was deathly afraid that my taking Ryan's side in this disagreement would lead to the inevitable dethroning of the Summer Seth had been lusting after for years. We'd both changed so much over the past year, and I was scared he would finally realise that I wasn't the girl he had fallen in love with all those years ago. But the way his arms were tight around my waist, and the little moans that escaped out of the side of his mouth showed me that our relationship was more than fine.

And then, as the kiss broke and we held each other in the water, staring at each other as if each were convincing ourselves that this finally wasn't a dream, I could finally feel at ease.

"I'm glad you came swimming with me," he grinned, leaning his forehead to mine.

I smiled and pulled myself up slightly in the water. "Never really liked swimming before," I admitted softly – why go swimming when tanning took up so much less energy, and gave you beautiful skin to go along with it?

It occurred to me that Seth's hands were clasped along my back, and I felt his fingers gently trace the skin below my shirt as the hem floated up in the water – following his touch was a trail of goosebumps that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water. "Swimming's fun," he offered.

It also occurred to me that I was now completely, profoundly, and ridiculously soaking wet. "You know I have to get you back for this," I reminded him.

"I'm planning on it," Seth grinned, and again I was reminded of his touch on my back, now moving higher to toy with the clasp of my bra.

This was too much for me. Before I knew what I was doing I grabbed his shirt collar and attempted to pull it over his head – though physics seemed to fail me, and the water indeed made the cloth heavier. "Oops, hold on," I giggled and, through some miracle of science, managed to pull the sopping shirt off.

"I had no idea your idea of getting me back involved _killing_ me," Seth informed me slyly as I tossed the shirt on the side of the pool.

"I know it's hard for you, but can you not talk, for like 2 seconds?" I questioned, and with increased relish I wrapped my arms around his newly bare shoulders and kissed him once again.

It was incredibly thrilling to feel the inhibition fading, the tentative tip-toeing blown into oblivion – to literally _feel_ the tension melting away as we both sank into the kiss. Unfortunately we managed to also sink in the water in the meantime, and since neither of us was willing to break the kiss, the water crept up high and higher until Seth finally pulled me completely under the water.

It wasn't like I was breathing, anyway, but the realization that the kiss was suddenly slower, heavier, and underwater was both confusing and exhilarating at the same time. With another pulse in the kiss to accentuate it, we pulled back up to the surface – and separated to gasp for breath.

His hands merely drifted apart, not leaving my waist, and even as I worked to steady my breathing against the side of the pool, I realized that his fixation with what was hidden was becoming a preoccupation. I met his eyes once more, and with a silent, solemn understanding, I lifted my arms slightly and he gently slipped my blouse over them.

The feeling of skin on skin on water was beyond explanation, and it was all I could do to clasp onto his neck and press myself into him – just to feel his skin against mine as closely as I could. Though he made no move to unclasp my bra he did tighten his grip around my waist, and as soon as his lips touched my bare shoulder, just barely breaking the surface of the water, I backed against the wall and thought I was going to die.

And I honestly didn't mind.

Until an embarrassed cough came from behind us.

I opened my eyes to discover Seth's brown ones staring back at me, and we both raised our heads to see who had interrupted our reunion.

"As pleased as I am that you guys have worked out your differences, do you think you could do that in a less public place?" Kirsten stood at the top of the stairs next to Ryan, Marissa's blonde head visible behind them. All three were grinning foolishly, but it was incredibly embarrassing nevertheless, and I quickly looked around for my shirt to cover myself up with.

"Your bikinis show more skin than you're currently showing." Seth's voice came in my ear matter-of-factly, and I had to concentrate to focus on the words rather than the delicious things his warm breath was doing to my insides. "Just hop out and stay in front of me."

The phrase didn't need any further explanation, and Seth didn't offer an apology when I turned back to him, a look of shock on my face. "It's been a long and lonely week."

I was incredibly flattering to know, to have tangible proof that I turned him on that much, and I couldn't do anything other than grin wider as we exited the pool.

……………………

The heatwave started the very next day. The mercury shot up to the high nineties and stayed there. And despite the wealth of Newport Beach, the constant use of air conditioners caused the power to go out across the county. It wasn't just a temporary blackout either – the sudden spike in power usage apparently caused serious damage to the transformers that provided the power to all of Newport Beach. And though the damage was repairable, it was going to take time, up to a week until the power could be fully restored to all buildings. Caleb's money proved useless against the bureaucrats, and thus both the Nichol and Cohen homes remained powerless along with all other residential properties in favour of bringing power back to the commercial outlets which relied on power for their business.

We spent the time lounging around the pools at my house and the Cohens', and making frequent trips to both the beach and the mall. For once the boys didn't complain (much) about mine and Marissa's shopping addiction – it meant that they could spend a few hours in the air conditioned heaven that was South Coast Plaza. And neither did they complain about the lack of 'sweaty activities', as Seth liked to call it, for they knew all too well that it would be a lot harder to cool down than it would to heat up.

"So…I'm puttin' my money on a little girl, how bout you two?" Ryan said as I walked into the kitchen on the third morning of the power outage. Sandy looked up from his bagel and smiled.

"That's what I said last night." He said and looked at Kirsten shyly. Seth smiled, finally over his disgust at his parents conceiving at this time in his life and enjoying the talk of a child in the house. I joined Kirsten at the sink and watched Sandy have a moment with his boys.

"So fellas does the Mother get an say in what the sex of the child might be?" Kirsten eventually asked, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows at them. They looked at each other then at the two of us.

"Nope." All three said together and smiled at her.

She just laughed and shook my head. "Ahhh…it's gonna be an interesting nine months."

"It's true," Seth couldn't let his mother have the last word on the topic, "sex is determined by the sperm, coz all you've got are X-chromosomes."

Mine and Kirsten's eye rolls were so synchronised you would have been forgiven for thinking we'd been practicing.

"So you ready to go?" She turned to me expectantly, ignoring what her son had just said.

"Ready when you are." I replied – we had scheduled some 'girl time' for just the two of us. Ever since our bathroom meeting and the taking of our pregnancy tests – and even before then, almost since Seth and I had started dating and I'd become a regular visitor in the Cohen household – I had felt a bond with the female Cohen, and every day she was becoming more and more like the mother I'd never had. When Seth had pointed out that we hadn't even contemplated asking Marissa to join us on our shopping expedition, I realised how the roles of females in my life were shifting – sure Marissa was still my best friend, and there were things I'd told her that I could never tell Seth's mother, but I was now able to spend time with another woman without the company of my best friend and I wasn't nervous or scared about being tongue-tied. Marissa had always been the best at conducting conversations – she could pull a topic out of thin air, and never brought anything up that would offend anyone. She was also better at speaking to adults without being seen as a child – whether that was because her parents were more active in her life or because of her position as social chair, I wasn't sure. Yes I was a great talker, but I always struggled with a new topic when the conversation petered out, and I knew that many of the parents of my classmates only saw me as a friend of their child's, never as an individual. Kirsten Cohen had changed all that. There was no topic I broached that she was offended by, or embarrassed talking about, in fact it was me who spent more time being embarrassed when she brought up things like my sex life with Seth.

We rushed from the house to the car – even though there was no power in the house, the structure meant it was about 5 degrees cooler inside than it was outside – and immediately turned the air con on full blast, to compensate for the car being left in the baking driveway for hours. It was so hot when we first got inside the car that my sunglasses fogged up, something I'd never experienced before, my car being a convertible.

At the mall we both unconsciously gravitated to Baby Gap and Lacoste Kids, despite entering the shops intending on shopping for ourselves. We couldn't help but coo over the adorable outfits and tiny shoes, even buying a couple of things that we simply couldn't let go of. But even as we were paying for the tiny red high tops and denim dungarees I couldn't help but get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Kirsten?" I finally broached the topic at lunch; all the time I'd spent with her over the past couple of weeks had finally allowed me to call her by her first name.

"Yeah, sweetie?" She replied, eyes still focussed on the half-finished burger in front of her – she was always extremely hungry once the morning nausea wore off.

I couldn't help but smile at her use of the pet name; it felt so intimate, and I really felt I was a part of the family when she called me 'sweetie' or 'honey' – Seth had pointed out that I got annoyed when he called me either of those names, yet I lit up when his parents did, and I couldn't explain it other than to say "It's different." How do you explain how it feels when an adult feels that much for you that they want to call you by something other than your given name? For Seth it was more a matter of him showing off how close we were when he called me pet names in public, but his parents did it for the emphasis it placed on how they felt about me.

"How do you…what if…why…" My stopping and starting got her full attention, and I could feel that she was using her mother's intuition on me again. But she didn't say anything, so I had to assume she was either unable to guess what I was trying to say, or she wanted me to actually voice the question. Either way I was having a hard time formulating the words – it was a pretty delicate topic. Finally I took a deep breath and just came out with it; "How do you know that this time won't be like the others?"

Her facial expression told me that she hadn't deduced my question, and I was pleased and disappointed at the same time – she hadn't been able to read me like she usually did, and I had to wonder whether it was because I was getting better at controlling my emotions, or because she didn't know me as well as I would have myself believe.

"I just know." Was the reply, and this time I _knew_ the confusion showed on my face. "I can feel it, something about this pregnancy feels right. It's the same thing I felt when I was pregnant with Seth. I realised a week ago that I didn't have this feeling with any of the other pregnancies, and so I just know that this baby is going to be OK." But even as she said the words, I could also see the pleading look in her eyes – she was begging me to reassure her that everything would be alright this time.

"It will be fine." I said, placing a hand over hers. She squeezed gently and smiled at me, thankful that I had done as she asked.

Though there had been an appointment with the OB/GYN (Kirsten's regular one this time, not the one we'd gone to in secret) and an ultrasound, the Cohens had chosen not to find out the sex of the baby – they wanted to be surprised, as they had been when Seth was born.

"Sandy, really, I can still get out of the car by myself." Kirsten laughed as Sandy appeared at her side the moment she opened the door when we got back to the Cohen house. "I'm three months. I'll take the help when I'm nine months and a beached whale."

"I _hope_ you're not doing anything that requires my help when you're nine months," Sandy said teasingly, wrapping a protective arm around her waist. "You're the mother of my baby. Gotta make sure you're both good and taken care of. And you'll never be a whale, beached or otherwise."

"Yeah, _I'm_ definitely good and taken care of," Kirsten said heartlessly. Sandy laughed and kissed her. "You made sure of that. Admit it, Sandy Cohen: you like that I'm going to need your help."

Sandy grinned as he closed the door of the Range Rover. "That's a perk."

Seth rolled his eyes and pretended to gag when he saw his parents kissing. I poked him in the shoulder as I walked past, not wanting to stay in the hot sun any longer than absolutely necessary.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the spot where I had poked him.

I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. "Love tap, baby. Toughen up." My eyes widened as soon as the words were out of my mouth, and I was _so_ extremely glad that I was facing away from him so that I couldn't see his reaction and he couldn't see mine. I'd never said the word 'love' in relation to him or our relationship before; Seth used it sometimes, but not very often, as he knew I wasn't ready to hear him explain every little thing he loved about me. I didn't know exactly what I felt for him, and so I almost always carefully measured my words to ensure nothing came out prematurely. But this time it had been in the heat of the moment, an instinctual reaction to his girlish squeal, and now that the words were out there was nothing I could do to take them back.

I moved straight through the house into the family room – despite the additional privacy Seth's room offered the lack of power meant that it was exceedingly hot upstairs – dumping the shopping bags on the couch of the living room as I went.

He followed me, as I knew he would, but I cut off his question before the words left his mouth. "Cohen can we not talk about it? Just a slip of the tongue."

His disappointment was visible on his face, yet he smiled and sat down on the couch, "No problem." He patted the seat next to him, but I chose to sit on the coffee table in front of him instead, kicking off my heels and propping my feet in his lap.

"You need to redo your toes." Seth said, looking at the chipped plum polish.

I replied by pulling an exact match of polish from my purse and handing it to him.

"Now why do you have a bottle of nail polish in your purse?" He asked as he unscrewed the cap on Passionate Plum.

"For occasions such as this," I replied, the 'duh' obvious in the tone, "when my pedicure needs a touch up and I'm not going to be home for a while."

"OK then." He told me as he applied another coat of plum to my big toe. It was scary how well he took to so-called 'girly' tasks such as painting my nails and brushing my hair. Scarier still was how much hotter he was for doing them, and doing them well – he could now braid hair better than Marissa could.

"So, what do you think of Ryan and Marissa?" I asked, leaning forward on my thighs to look at him expectantly.

"I don't know if we should push them back together again…" Seth said, pretending to be coy – he had been the one to invite Marissa over almost every day since the 'reunion'.

"And you don't know how to paint nails either." I said, just to get him riled up.

"Hey!" Seth jabbed me with the brush, leaving a liquid purple dot on the top of my foot. I wiped it up with my finger and smeared it across his cheek bone with a satisfied smile. He made to retaliate but I held up a hand.

"Don't want to smudge your handy work." I said, pointing to my foot.

"Just get it off of me." He whined, so I took my feet out of his lap and scooted closer to him. When I was practically in his lap I licked my thumb and wiped off the smudge of purple. He reached for me, trying to wrap his arms around my waist, but I evaded his clutches and returned to my original position.

……………………

Five days later the power was finally restored to all of Newport, and along with the power came August 13th. Mine and Seth's six month anniversary. It was on a Friday, which had freaked me out the first time I looked at the calendar and realised that our anniversary was going to be on Friday the 13th. But then Seth had pointed out that the day we got together was a Black Friday too, and he gave me an incredibly long monologue about how this year was extremely rare as it was a leap year and it also had two Black Fridays. By the time I kissed him to shut him up I'd gotten over the fear of something going wrong.

But when I woke up that morning hugging a pillow instead of the warm body I'd gone to sleep hugging, the foreboding awakened once again. Sandy had arranged to keep Kirsten out of the house until late and had promised that he wouldn't allow her to check on us as a special favour to Seth – then again I probably would have given in too if Seth had begged and pleaded with me for a solid two hours. So, thanks to Seth's persistence and Sandy's craftiness, Seth and I got to spend our first night together since our trip to Catalina. The idea was that we could wake in one another's arms and start our anniversary off on the right foot, although Seth's absence in bed wasn't a good start.

"Cohen?" I called, searching for my boyfriend. I entered the family room, still not seeing him, but stopped my search when I found him asleep on the floor in front of the couch, Playstation controller in hand.

I padded over to him, standing to one side of him. "Hey sleeping beauty," I shot out my foot and tipped him onto his side.

Seth awoke, scrambling to his feet to look for the source of the touch and the noise, "Hey!" He paused for a moment then continued in a softer tone, "Hey. Did I wake you?"

I shook my head, "You weren't there when I woke up, so I was just curious."

"Sorry Jay," he apologized, "I came down here to for a drink, and noticed the Playstation was still set up…I guess I lost track of time."

"You may be all powerful while playing Playstation, but Seth Cohen can't function without sleep."

"Yes mother."

I cocked an eyebrow at him, "Is that how you see me?"

"Not a chance," he reassured me, "I never have thoughts about my mother the way I have thoughts about you."

"So long as there are no whips involved," a pause, "Coffee in the kitchen?"

"Fresh pot."

I smiled, "I could get used to you playing at the crack of dawn," I headed into the kitchen.

He shut down the Playstation and followed me, "Don't I even get a 'good morning'?"

"Not a good morning until I've had my coffee," I snagged a mug from the cabinet and poured myself some black coffee, revelling in the fact that we finally had power again and didn't need to run to the coffee shop first thing in the morning.

His cologne clouded my senses a second later when he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my midsection. "Happy anniversary my Summer."

The possessive words, which would normally have annoyed me for the presumption they held, only served to warm me further as I relaxed into his arms. "Happy anniversary my Cohen."

The rest of our day went extremely well, better than I could have hoped given that it was Friday the 13th. We made breakfast together and ate it on Seth's bed, though I drew the line at allowing him to feed me – "I can feed myself Cohen, I have hands!" We went sailing and met Ryan and Marissa for a picnic lunch on the beach. And now we were sitting on the beach after an amazing dinner, watching the waves break gently on the beach.

"You should wait until sunset," Seth said, breaking the silence with a non-moronic comment for once. "It's the most beautiful thing you'll ever see."

I smiled looking at the sun sitting low in the sky.

"Well…almost the most beautiful thing you'll ever see."

I smiled as he shot me a grin, repressing the 'cheesy' remark. He got up, leaving me to stare at the ocean and all its glory as I pondered the meanings behind his remark. I knew that he found me attractive; his physical response every time I was close to him was evidence, beside the fact that he voiced it often enough. But unlike most of the other guys I'd dated and 'hung out' with, I knew that when he looked at me he saw more than just a great rack and petite curves. He saw a person that he wanted to get to know, about whom he wanted to know everything there was to know. It was this part of our relationship that freaked me out – the non-physical part. The only ear to have heard my most secret dreams, fears and desires was a purple plastic one, and I knew without a doubt that Princess Sparkle wasn't going to judge me. So deep in thought was I that I didn't hear Seth walk behind me until the cold ocean water came pouring down on my head.

"Hey!" I said, shooting him a look and hitting him in the knee – the only part of his body I could reach at the moment. "That was uncalled for!"

He just laughed as he held up the plastic yellow bucket he used. "Hey, don't blame me, that kid let me borrow this," he said, pointing to a small kid who just pouted.

"Hey mister, I didn't know you were going to do that!" he said, crossing his arms.

Both Seth and I laughed as the kid snatches the bucket from Seth's hand and stomped off.

"Well, I think that-" Seth couldn't finish his sentence as a gallon of water splashed him right in the face, knocking him down. He shot me a look when he heard me giggling.

"Don't look at me, Cohen, the kid over there did it," I said, pointing to the tiny kid from before who was now building a sand castle.

He grinned as he got up, brushing the sand off his pants and running after me. I laughed and ran away from him, not caring that the entire beach was probably staring at us running after one another.

He finally caught me – only because I was getting bored of the running and purposely slowed down, mind you – and twirled me around a couple of times. When he put me down we both collapsed on the sand, unused to so much running in such a short period of time.

"The sun will set in a few minutes," Seth said, sitting up but still taking huge heaving breaths.

I sat up and hugged my knees, leaning into him. He took the hint and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. A bolt of electricity shot through me, originating where his fingers were tracing circles on my upper arm, and for once Seth didn't automatically assume I was cold – I think he must have felt it too.

"I've always wanted to show someone the sunset," he said. "My father showed it to me when I was little…He had just told me the greatest things in life were free…" he smiled at the memory, turning to look at me. "I didn't believe him, so he showed me the sunset."

I looked up at him as he continued.

"Afterwards, I ruined the moment."

"How?" I asked, tilting my head.

"I asked him if the best things in life were free, how come TV wasn't."

I laughed. "I suppose that sort of does ruin the moment."

He echoed my laugh with his own chuckle. "I suppose it does."

As the sun began to set, the sky took on different shades of red, orange, and a beautiful purple. The ocean breeze was now growing colder as we sat down on the shore watching the sun fall under the horizon.

"Happy anniversary, Summer." He said softly.

"Happy anniversary, Cohen." I echoed, leaning up as Seth moved down to seal the moment with a sweet kiss. His hand rose to cup my face, holding me to him as our lips moved blissfully against one another. "Am I a great kisser or what?"

"Ego much?" he taunted half-heartily, eyes focused on my lips, now swollen from his kiss.

"Are you denying that I am a great kisser?" My hand played over his navy sweater, fingers tracing over his heart.

"No, I could never deny that."

"You're pretty good too."

Seth's frown was a pure mock of being hurt. "Pretty good? I'm just a pretty good kisser?"

"You're adequate. Equal to the task. Competent."

Seth sat up, now basking in the mirth of the moment. "You're describing my kissing technique as simply competent? This from the women who was comparing me to God at the top of her lungs just this morning? Is that the woman who is saying that my kissing is just equal to the task?"

His smile combined with those endearing puppy eyes I adored won me over every time. "Like I said, you're good. You get the job done." With the widest of smiles I put my hands behind my head and laid back on the sand, closing my eyes. "Hey…" I murmured softly when Seth moved his body over me, pressing down on me. "What do you think you're doing?"

His face lowered as his eyes closed. "Proving I am much, much more than just equal to the task." Seth slanted his mouth over mine gently. He swallowed my little gasp of surprise and took advantage of my open mouth. His tongue swept inside, slow and lazy, tasting me, savoring the jolts of sensation passing between us. I growled and rolled my tongue around his and he groaned heavily into my mouth and deepened the kiss.

The vibration of his groan shook me, causing a melting warmth to flood down my spine and pool between my thighs. My head was spinning. His kiss was soft but insistent. My ears were buzzing with the rush of blood in my head. Kissing him made me feel…complete. This was so right. Nothing had ever felt this right. His hand was hot on my thigh.

I broke the kiss and leaned my forehead on his. We both smiled as we caught our breath. "That was…better."

"Better?" Seth repeated just above my lips, breathing in my exhalations. God, he looked so incredibly gorgeous to me now. "Just better?"

"Okay, you pulled my leg. That was a pretty good kiss." I grinned widely, pecking him again before pushing him off me and sitting up.

He rolled to my side without complaint, and fished in the pocket of his jacket for something. I pretended not to be too interested in it, superficially brushing sand off my dress. But then he produced a piece of paper from his pocket, and I had to admit I was a little disappointed when he thrust it into my hands – I had been expecting my anniversary present to be a little more impressive.

But the disappointment faded instantly when I read the paper – Seth had gotten me personalised number plates! Obviously he hadn't been able to actually get the plates until I knew – he had to hand over the old plates when collecting the new ones – but in front of me were the registration papers for my Beamer, showing that they were now registered to carry the plate 'SUMR25'.

Tears came to my eyes as I turned and kissed him, unable to voice my thoughts.

"It's amazing Seth. Thank you." I whispered against his lips when we parted. "Your gift is at my house. I'll give it to you later."

"You're the best gift I've ever been given." He replied, kissing me again.

It was with those words that I realised that I was finally ready to tell him one of my darkest secrets. As scared as I was for the reaction I knew he would have, I also knew he wouldn't judge me and neither would he pity me.

"Seth." I said, and the serious in my voice made his smile fade instantly. "I think it's about time I tell you about my mother."

So extremely sorry for taking over 10 months to update. Wanted to finish Third Time Around, and then got hit with Writer's Block – and the latest S4 episodes didn't help any. I did toy with splitting this chap but couldn't find a good place to split it into somewhat even chapters, so you guys get the whole monster chap in one hit!

I had intended to post the last two chapters before the finale, but they have run away with me and I'm only halfway done with the other chap – which will be the final one, excluding a possible epilogue.

Have a couple of questions though:

- Do you think the baby should be a girl or a boy? It has been brought to my attention that almost every fic written with another Cohen child has the second one a girl, and Fox has jumped on this bandwagon in S4, but I want your opinions.

- Name suggestions? I would like to keep in theme with the show and have a name with Jewish (Hebrew) origins, or at least the first name.

- Suggestions for what will happen in the next chapter: obviously Summer is going to tell Seth about her mom, and the other major event is Summer's birthday, but I need some suggestions to link these two events together. Either SS moments or something with some of the other characters – the more suggestions the quicker the next chapter will be up!


	8. Birthday Song

**Seceding Link**

Ch 8: Birthday Song

**By Somebody's Angel**

_"Seth." I said, and the serious in my voice made his smile fade instantly. "I think it's about time I tell you about my mother."_

"My dad went into medicine late," I began quietly, turning away from him so we both sat staring out into the ocean – I knew I would never gather the courage to tell him everything if I could see the pity that would inevitably come across his face when he heard the story. "he didn't start medical school til he was 28. My mom, on the other hand was a natural at business and quickly rose through the ranks. She once told me that when she became pregnant it almost ruined her career. She went back to work a month after I was born, and was promoted to CEO a couple months later, at only 27."

One finger traced mindless circles in the sand beneath us, the other hand clasped tightly in Seth's. "I was always close to my dad, because we spent so much time together. He was studying, so he was the one at home looking after me. I'm told I was a good baby, quiet, slept through the night when I was only a couple weeks old. Even when he was an intern and worked 36 hours straight, he spent every minute off duty with me, reading to me, talking to me, playing with me. He was my best friend."

"When I went to school I realised how strange it was. All the other kids had mothers who picked them up after school, cuddled and kissed them right there in the playground. And coz my dad was an actual surgeon by then, he wasn't home nearly as often, so I spent a lot of time with the nanny."

Seth held me tighter as my voice began to crack.

"My mom…she wasn't like other moms. She only ever hugged or kissed me on special occasions, always thought her apologies and declarations of love could make up for the missed recitals and lack of physical affection. She didn't even know how old I was! I remember my sixth birthday, when I had the party with the entire class? She came into my room that morning and congratulated me on my fifth birthday!" Tears ran down my cheek as the memories flooded back to me.

"They started fighting when I was seven. She was never home, was never there for me, wasn't there for him. He spent too much time at the hospital, didn't exist in the real world, wasn't supportive of her goals. They only found out I could hear them when they caught me watching the yelling. That weekend I got a TV and stereo in my room," I explained, mildly surprised that my voice was still steady, and loud enough for Seth to hear.

"My mother started talking about how I hated her, how dad had turned me against her. She blamed him for her failures as a parent. The last thing she said the night she left was that she wished she'd never gone through with the pregnancy, that she wasn't ready to be a mother or a wife. Until that night I never knew I was the reason they got married."

Seth pressed his face to mine, and I could feel the tear that slipped down his cheek. It made me feel even worse – this was why I didn't tell people about my life, because it usually made them feel sorry for me, and I hated making other people feel bad. But at the same time I knew, could feel how much this sharing meant to him in the tightening of his arms around my waist and the soft breaths in my ear.

"They still don't know that I heard that entire 'conversation'. I pretended to be asleep when she came upstairs. She kissed me on the forehead and told me _"I just wasn't ready to be a mother, baby. And I know you'll be better off without me. I'll always love you, baby, please remember that."_ I never saw her again."

Emotionally exhausted, I turned and buried my head into Seth's chest, finally letting out all the tears I had been holding back ever since that fateful night four years ago.

For once, Seth didn't attempt to break the silence, simply allowing it to envelop us until the only noise either of us could hear were my hiccuping sobs and the ocean crashing against the beach.

His hand rubbing circles on my back helped calm me down, and soon I looked up at him. There were tears shining in his coffee-coloured eyes but he didn't let them fall, knowing how much I hated sympathy tears. Instead he smiled the shy quiet smile that only I saw, the one he always had on his face when the last of my clothes dropped to the floor and I was naked in his arms, the one which told me how lucky he felt to be sharing his life with me.

I couldn't help but smile back, "Sorry for going all Gwyneth on you, our anniversary is supposed to be a happy time."

He shook his head slightly, leaning down to kiss my forehead. "I'm happy you're sharing your life with me. It was a major part of your life that I didn't really know anything about. And the fact that you feel comfortable enough to share it with me…it speaks volumes."

And as we stared into one another's eyes, brown boring into brown, I could see how much he wanted to tell me, how much he wanted to say the words out loud. But I could also see the hesitation, the fragility that was his self-esteem. For that was the major issue – if he told me he loved me and I didn't reply in kind, it would shatter his self-worth entirely. As much as we had tried to work through our issues of not deserving one another, I knew that he still thought of me as his dream girl, just one mistake away from slipping out of his reach.

But I couldn't say it yet, because I wasn't sure. Now that he had heard the story of my previous experiences with love I know that he understood a lot better than he had previously, but he still didn't entirely grasp the enormity of what the declaration would mean to me. My mother had tarnished the phrase for me, using it as an apology instead of the declaration it should have been. And while my father used the phrase, the words were only actually spoken on special occasions, birthdays and Chrismukkah, _I'll never think of it as just Christmas again, it'll always be Chrismukkah_, the random thought popped into my brain and I struggled to remember when I had previously been contemplating…I had never heard my father tell my mother he loved her, nor had I ever heard her tell him.

Seth's parents said it all the time; seriously, jokingly, with smiles and with tears. He had probably grown up with both of them saying 'I love you' as part of the goodnight ritual. I hadn't had the same experience, and had never, ever spoken the words first.

So to escape the silence from becoming awkward, I blinked to break the connection, then kissed him hard. I hoped to show him all the feelings I couldn't express, hoped he would be able to determine for himself if I loved him, because I had no clue.

……………………

It was four days later that I realised I hadn't seen Seth and Marissa in the same room for a couple of weeks now. Sure I still spent time with the both of them, and with Ryan, but we hadn't hung out as a foursome for at least three weeks.

Things steadily got weirder over the next couple of days; all three of them giving me weird glances every so often, conversations dying the second I walked into the room, Seth pushing me to spend more and more time with his mother – not that I minded this last option, it was just that I had seen more of Kirsten than of my boyfriend since our anniversary.

But the weirdest episode of all was when Ryan _volunteered_ to take me shopping, ostensibly to help him give Seth ideas for birthday presents for me, but I noticed Marissa's new red car pulling into the driveway of the Cohen's before we had even turned out of the street. I knew they were keeping something from me, and yet I was so happy with my life in general that I couldn't bring myself to care all that much.

My father had managed to take two days off – the two days before my birthday – and he was taking Marissa and I to LA for a little holiday. Seth and I were excellent, spending time together but no so much that we were in one another's pockets – and I was finding that I didn't miss him as much when we were apart as I used to. At first this information scared me – was I getting too comfortable in the relationship? But he called me that night and we spent two hours on the phone just talking and bickering and I realised it was just that the relationship was maturing, moving our of the 'honeymoon' stage and into a stage where we could be together but apart at the same time. Marissa seemed to have kicked her alcoholic ways for good – she wouldn't even touch light beer now, and always drank soda or juice when we went out. And my friendship with Ryan went from strength to strength.

I finally had a number of friends who were different, and good for different objectives, not the bitchy, gossipy ditzes that I used to call my friends – Marissa was still my best girl pal, great for doing girly things with and chatting about things the boys couldn't or wouldn't understand – makeup, fashion, boys. Seth and I talked about everything and anything, from celebrity gossip to his fears of having a baby sibling to global warming – much the way I could also talk to Kirsten about almost anything (other than mine and Seth's sex life of course). And then Ryan was great to talk to for all the other stuff – boy issues that Marissa couldn't figure out, sports (though I started watching baseball for the tight pants and basketball for the bare arms I became genuinely interested in the rules and the different teams) and most importantly, my fear of abandonment and love issues. As he said, "if anyone knows how it feels to be abandoned by their mother it would be me." We talked about our previous experiences with love and the phrase, I asked how he had known he was ready to tell Marissa when he did, he walked me through my feelings for Seth. But even after several marathon sessions in the poolhouse with Ryan, I still wasn't sure that I loved Seth, and I wasn't about to tell him unless I was completely positive about my feelings.

It was Saturday, the night before my father was taking Marissa and I to LA for some serious retail therapy, four days before my birthday.

Seth and I were lying in a heap of tangled limbs and bedcovers, our breathing slowly returning to normal. "That was an awesome date." I commented against his shoulder blade, causing him to squirm a little at the sensation.

"Yeah, that George Clooney is always a panty-peeler." He replied, twitching his head away before I could slap him.

"_Ocean's Eleven_ is _way_ more than just George." I retorted, not moving from my position draped across him.

"I know, Brad and Matt are big parts too."

"Exactly." I murmured agreeably, _this_ close to falling asleep.

He must have heard my breathing slowing down, because he shifted underneath me, glancing over at the nightstand. "It's past midnight."

I turned to look at the clock. "Yes, you're right." I turned back to him and smiled. "Glad to see you're getting your money's worth with those telling-time classes."

He rolled his eyes. "I believe that was me insinuating that I should be going."

"So you weren't trying to impress me with your skills?" I asked as I rolled off of him, faking a pout.

"No, I –" he started, but stopped abruptly when I got up off the bed and walked over to my closet. I knew he was watching me closely, could feel his eyes wandering over my body as I pulled out my robe.

I turned around as I pulled it on, purposely leaving it hanging open until I was facing him. Sure enough he was staring at me with wide eyes and I let out a small laugh, pulling the belt tight around my waist and folding my arms across my chest. "Take a picture, it lasts longer."

"Trust me, the thought's crossed my mind," he said.

I smirked as I picked up his shirt from the floor and tossed it next to him on the bed. "Here. Quit drooling and get dressed." I walked over to my vanity and picked up a ponytail holder, pulling my hair into a loose bun before moving to lean against the door with a sigh. "I wish you didn't have to leave like this."

"I know, me too, but we both know what will happen if I don't get home."

I smiled sadly. "Yeah. No more half-sleepovers, even."

Seth shrugged. "And I'd prefer this to not being able to sleep with you at all. Okay, now, where's my shirt?"

As always he had to get every piece of clothing together before he could put anything on, so I was entertained watching him search naked for quite awhile before he discovered that his boxers had been tossed through the open ensuite door.

A few minutes later, he pulled on his second shoe and walked over to me. He placed one hand against the door and pressed his lips gently against mine. I brought my hands up to his face and ran them over the light stubble on his cheeks as we kissed – Seth's five-o'clock shadow was never actually a shadow until after 10.

We sat together at the bottom of the stairs, looking into the darkness of the living room for a minute before the grandfather clock in the den chimed once, indicating it was half-past. Simultaneously we turned back towards one another, our lips colliding much more aggressively than they had a few minutes previously.

I loved the comfort I felt with Seth – much as we both enjoyed our…ahem, bedroom activities, there was never any pressure or expectation that we would go all the way. I think that's what made our sex life so much better, never knowing when the other would pull back and declare the night's festivities over with. Seth's curfew had a lot to do with this also, as he always made sure his watch alarm was set to enable him to get decent and get home before curfew – two punishments dealt out for breaking curfew had been more than enough to ensure that he was alone in his bedroom one minute _before_ curfew every single time. But mostly we enjoyed teasing one another until one of us cracked – I had never seen Seth smile so evilly as the time he lifted his head from between my thighs and left me teetering on the edge of the precipice, and it took every ounce of my willpower not to beg him to come back when he subsequently walked out of the room without a word.

And we were both teasing again that night – well, that morning if you wanted to get _technical_ – Seth's hands were inside my robe, but he refused to do anything more than dance his fingers across my stomach, while I traced a line along his hipbone, grinning when he moaned into my mouth.

Things were just beginning to escalate – I straddled his lap as his hand finally moved upward from my stomach – when Seth's watch alarm sounded. We both ignored it for an entire minute until it turned itself on snooze, and the second the noise stopped we pulled apart.

I fixed my robe while he pulled out the keys to the Rover, making sure they didn't jangle – not that jangling keys would have been more disturbing than the alarm that had gone off just a minute ago. We worked in unison to disable the burglar alarm and unlock the door, then he gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Bye," he said.

"Bye," I replied, smiling. He stepped over the threshold and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets before walking down the front steps and across the yard.

………………………

My birthday was an awesome day. Between Seth, Marissa, Ryan and Kirsten I was entertained all day, and every single activity was of my choosing.

Seth took me for an early dinner at my favorite restaurant, a place called Thai Thai Again. It had only just opened when Seth appeared on my radar, and it quickly became our special place. The food was amazing, a perfect mix between authentic and Americanised Thai food. We went there so often we were now recognised by most of the waiters, and had friends among the kitchen staff.

We finished our mains and I opened the menu to see what I might want to choose for dessert when Seth cleared his throat. "There's a special dessert waiting for you at home."

"OK, then let's get the check."

"Nononononono, we can't go…not yet…not ready…not until half-past…" He continued to ramble under his breath, and I knew he was either very nervous, or trying to hide something, or most probably both.

I grinned at his adorableness and laid both hands on top of his wringing ones. "Chill. Let's just sit here for a little while then."

He calmed down the instant my skin touched his, and lifted his head to meet my eyes. I felt a weight in my hand and looked down to see Seth placing a square blue velvet box in my hands – I hadn't even felt his hands move.

I smiled at him and opened it up. Her eyes widened and I let out a small gasp. "Oh my God." I pulled out a white gold necklace. A diamond solitaire hung from the centre, pink sapphires on either side. "Cohen, this is…wow, this is just…beautiful." I shook my head slightly. "You really didn't have to get me something like this."

"I know," he replied. "Do you like it?"

I smiled. "Are you kidding? I love it, but…this looks so expensive," I said, staring at it in awe. I fingered the chain, then gasped. "Oh my God, that's why I haven't seen Ryan around lately; you sold him to pay for this, didn't you?"

He smirked as he took it from me, and I suddenly remembered that his grandfather practically owned Newport, and it wasn't like either of our families were exactly struggling for cash, a fact which had slipped my mind a moment ago. "a) you saw Ryan at lunch and b) no, I didn't have to. It was free."

I raised my eyebrows. "So, you're telling me you stole this?"

He smiled. "No. Here, lift up your hair." I obliged and Seth fastened the necklace around my neck, his cool fingers resting on my shoulders after he had done up the clasp.

I released my hair and looked at him expectantly. "So, where'd you get it?"

"Actually, it belonged to my grandmother," he replied simply – his short, incomplete answers were beginning to get on my nerves.

I frowned in confusion as well as annoyance. "I thought your grandmother was still alive?"

The mischief in Seth's eyes quickly dimmed when he saw the malice in mine, and he decided not to risk his life any more than he already had. "No, The Nana is still alive, this belonged to my mom's mom. And before she died, she gave it to me and told me to keep it somewhere safe, that one day I would find someone special and that I should give it to her." He shrugged. "So I just did."

A chill ran through my body at his explanation – family jewellery was a huge deal. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away and smiled. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his, kissing him deeply. "Thank you," I whispered, bringing my arms up to hug him.

"You're welcome," he said. I leaned against him and rested my head on his shoulder. Seth stroked my arm as I stared out the window into the ocean, black with the ink of nightfall.

When the waiter brought the cheque over I was confused for a second – hadn't Seth just said he didn't want to get the cheque yet? But when I turned to question him he was already placing his mother's credit card in the waiter's hand.

"Time to go." He replied to my confused look.

He pushed my chair in for me after helping me up, and wrapped an arm around my waist as we exited the restaurant.

…………………………

Seth chattered all the way home, about everything and nothing – he wouldn't answer my questions about his strange behaviour at the restaurant, despite a number of punches to his shoulder. He either ignored the question entirely or claimed that he wasn't acting any more strange than was normal for him – I had to give him that point, he _had_ done a number of things more strange than tonight's.

I was too distracted by my boyfriend annoying me to notice the cars parked around the Cohen house, though the valet that opened my door startled me.

"Cohen what's going on, are your parents having a party?"

"Sort of." He replied, before opening the front door.

"Surprise!" Yelled a crowd of people inside, and all of a sudden I knew the reason for all the secrecy, the weirdness, the reason why I hadn't spent any time with all four of my best friends over the past couple of weeks. They had been planning a surprise birthday party for me.

I hugged Marissa hard for a few seconds before the flood of people pounced and stole me away.

An hour and a half later I was finally done with the greetings and thankyous, and went to find Seth.

As at Julie and Caleb's wedding I found him hiding in a place where he could still look over the festivities – his parents' bedroom. They were outside at the party, currently standing together in the middle of a group of Newpsie women, Sandy looking completely miserable.

I sat next to him on the bed, resting my head on his shoulder as I thought about the enormous changes in my life over the past year. The evidence lay in the differences between my sixteenth and seventeenth birthday parties. I hardly remembered my sweet sixteenth party, except for the fact that Marissa was extremely late – which I now knew was due to the fact she was getting Ryan set up in the model home. There were three kegs and more spirits than a séance at my house, and I woke up the next morning with one of the worst hangovers I'd ever had.

And then there was my seventeenth birthday, and while there were probably a similar number of people at this party, I knew every face and every name, and most people were still relatively sober. It was definitely more sophisticated than my rager the previous year, and I felt that the same could be said about me as a person. Yes it could be argued that change was a part of growing up, and the later teenage years were the ones during which the most changes occurred. But I don't think that my entire outlook on school, friends, partying and life in general would have changed as much as quickly if it hadn't been for the person sitting next to me.

I turned to him and kissed him soundly. "Thank you."

He smiled in response, but I could see in his eyes that his thoughts were elsewhere, and deep. Instead of trying to probe I resumed my position on his shoulder and waited until he was ready to speak.

It occurred sooner than I had expected, and was deeper and more meaningful as well. "Why are you here with me?"

A simple question. Or at least, it should have been.

I knew he didn't mean here in the room. He meant the universal version of 'here.' He was asking me why I put up with him, and I was amazed that he didn't knew. I just assumed he did. Oops.

Was it because I felt lucky? Lucky that _I _was the one he'd allowed me into his life and his family so thoroughly. I felt lucky that he had introduced me to his parents, his Nana, his grandfather, his aunt, all within a couple of months of dating. I felt lucky that his parents treated me as their own daughter, that they never held it against me for running away with him, for hurting him for so long before this year. They hugged and kissed me as if I was one of their kids, and I cherished every touch because I'd never felt this kind of affection before – though I loved my own father to pieces and he spendt plenty of time with me he wasn't the physical affection type.

Yes, I did feel lucky. But that wasn't why.

Was it because of his eyes? Those piercing, chocolate brown eyes that I could see my own reflection in with the right lighting. Those eyes that could look so naïve and yet so knowledgeable at the same time. Those eyes that stared at me, watched me unwaveringly while he made love to me, seeing and feeling my every reaction to him. Those eyes that, with a single look, could convey more than anyone else could with a thousand words? With them, he told me everything he couldn't say. Which wasn't much, but it was the most meaningful.

Yes, his eyes were beautiful. _He _wasbeautiful. But that wasn't not why.

Was it because he made me laugh? Often, it was at the expense of another, usually himself, but he didn't mind and neither do I. He could always tell when I was angry or upset, and in his own ridiculous ways, tried to fix it. He thought he could fix everything emotional. And he usually could. It was annoying. I always tried to hide those feelings from him, but he could always tell. I needed to work on my deceptiveness, because my eyes, he once said to me, revealed everything. With one look into them, he knew what I was feeling.

Yes, he made me laugh. But that wasn't why.

I turned to face him.

And in his eyes, which looked pleading but not pathetic, I found my answer.

"Because I love you."

It was the first time I'd ever said that to him, to anyone not a blood-relative. And it was true. I'd rip my heart out myself and hand it to him on a silver platter if he asked me to. In fact, I just had.

_Hey there I said it  
I'm in love  
With you_

_There's an ocean between us  
Just like me  
Deep and blue_

_And I, at times have had nothing  
But tonight I want nothing but you  
You're the only thing I want  
The only thing I want  
The only thing on my mind  
All the time_

_Staying up 'til dawn won't take its toll  
'til we get old  
And drinking is just the way  
We keep away the cold  
And you, you know what it means  
To be true and searching like me_

_You're the only thing I need  
The only thing I need  
The only thing on my mind  
All the time_

_And you gave me a reason  
To give you my soul  
I'll give you it all_

_You're the only one I want  
The only one I need  
The only one on my mind  
All the time  
All the time  
All the time  
All the time_

THE END

So it finally ends. The above lyrics are from _Birthday Song_ by Ben Lee, which, combined with the SS wedding scene in TTTB, was the inspiration for this entire fic. I wanted to show the process and events that made Summer fall in love with Seth, and then realise and articulate it to him. I really hope I accomplished this.

I started this fic in September 2004, before I sat my final high school exams, and it's take almost 3 years to write just eight chapters (albeit each chapter is over 3000 words long). As you will probably see from my profile page I've written a lot of stories but this is the only one that is written (almost) entirely in first person, and it's closest to my heart.

This is definitely going to be my last OC fic. Unfortunately the combination of the end of the show and my fickle mind has meant I've moved on from the show, which is part of the reason why this chapter took so long, but the OC consumed my life for a long time, and I couldn't just leave you guys hanging forever, as I've done to some other fandoms. I hope you guys will enjoy my future fics, most probably in CSI: New York.

I really hope you guys like this final chapter, and please let me know your favourite line/comeback. I also need name suggestions for the epilogue. I need two girl's names and one boy's (first and middle), for reasons that will become clear when I post the epilogue in a couple weeks.


	9. Epilogue

**Seceding Link**

Epilogue 

**By Somebody's Angel**

"_No one is perfect, but sometimes people are perfect for each other."_ –The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love

"I swear to God, you knock me up again and I will permanently castrate you!"

"I will bear that in mind when you bring up the prospect of having a third."

His wife glared at him. "Trust me, I won't be!"

He knew he shouldn't piss off a pregnant woman in labour but when it came to his wife he couldn't help it. "Hon, that's what you said after the last one, and look where we are!"

She just moaned in pain. "I must have forgotten, it was a long time ago…but if you must know, the prospect of castrating you is looking more and more appealing!"

He cringed at the prospect, and resolved to stay quiet for the rest of the process. However his wife kept making comments that he just couldn't help but respond to.

"Oh _God_, Why can't it just stay in there for a few more years," she whined two hours later.

"Cause then it would be _really_ painful" her husband argued.

"This is _really painful_!" she grunted.

"Well, it would be this times 10, now I need you to push!!"

"Always thinking about yourself."

"Hon, I'm thinking about our baby that is about to crown, now Push!"

"When this is over…_we_ are _so_ getting separate beds!"

"What about being open to a commitment."

"I will be committed…white coat type committed if I have to do this again…AAAAAARRRRGGGG!"

"Well, this is a bad time to-"

"Shut up!" she screamed as she pushed.

"Okay, breathe. Push…"

"Oh, what a feeling." She exclaimed when the contraction was over, "This baby better be pretty, cause it's not giving me a pretty feeling now."

He was now down by her legs, watching the doctor do his work, "And the here's the head…the neck…the shoulders…the arms…"

"Shut Up!" She yelled, "This is not a football commentary! I can feel what's coming out!"

He barely heard her, as he watched his daughter come into the world. "Oh, here it comes. Oh my!"

The room was blissfully quiet until the sound of a baby crying filled the room.

The nurse came up beside her, holding a wrapped bundle, "It's a girl."

"A girl?" She panted.

"Yes, Mrs. Cohen. Here you go." The nurse said, handing the baby to her.

"Oh, she's beautiful!" She said as she ran her fingers lightly over the baby's head. "She looks just like you."

Her husband was confused, "No she doesn't. She looks like you."

She rolled her eyes. "I just expelled something that weighs about eight pounds out of myself. I was talking to myself. What did you do?"

He grinned, "I supplied the other half of the chromosomes."

She smiled back, "Thanks, good enough for me. You want to hold her?"

"Sure." He replied, taking the baby from her, "Hey, this is Daddy. Daddy…" he repeated as his eyes teared up, he sat down in a chair beside his wife's bed, showing the baby to her. "So, what should we call her?"

……………………

"I wanna see her! I wanna see her!" A tiny blonde whirlwind attached itself to his legs the second he entered the waiting room. The other occupants looked up at their youngest member's exclamation, and the new father grinned widely.

"It's a girl. 8 pounds, 2 ounces." He smirked wickedly at the adults sitting before him, completely ignoring the child tugging on his pant leg. "So I heard something about a little girl wanting to see the new baby?"

"Me! Me! Me!"

"Come on Evie, let's go see your baby niece." Seth said, taking the his little sister's hand. Surprising everyone else in the room, Abigail Eve Cohen walked slowly next to her brother, allowing him to take the lead – 'walk' wasn't usually a word in the six-year-old's vocabulary.

The other adults followed; Sandy and Kirsten, Ryan and Marissa, and Dr Roberts, carrying a sleeping toddler in his arms.

About halfway down the hallway, Kirsten finally realised the reason Seth was holding Abigail's hand in his right. "Seth how did you get that cast on your arm?"

Seth blushed a deep red, turning back to the adults, "Um…Summer broke my wrist."

"What! How? When?" A flurry of questions spilled forth from all members of the group, except Sandy who was too busy laughing, and Abigail, who didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"I was holding her hand, she had a really painful contraction just as I was turning to get some more ice chips. One twist the wrong way and she fractured two of the bones in my wrist."

"So did you even get to see your daughter born, or were you too busy getting bandaged up?" For some reason Seth didn't think Ryan's question was as sincere as it could have been.

"Of course I saw her born, the doctor splinted it first then I got the plaster on after…why'd you think it took me an hour to get out here?"

Seth went to open the door, thought better of it, and knocked first. His sister didn't feel the need to wait, opening the door almost before Seth lifted his knuckles from the wood.

"Hey Jay, I brought visitors." Seth said softly, unsure whether Summer was asleep or just resting her eyes.

"Summer!" Again, Abigail didn't see the need for caution, bursting into the room and causing Summer's eyes to snap open.

"Abby! My favourite sister-in-law."

Seth snickered, turning to Marissa, "Guess you've been upstaged."

"Shut up Cohen." Came three female voices, and it was Ryan's turn to snigger, this time at Seth's being simultaneously chastised by his wife, his sister and his sister-in-law.

"Can I see the baby?" Abigail asked, and Seth carefully lifted her onto his lap as he sat in a chair next to the bed.

"Everybody, meet Sara Danielle Cohen." Summer announced, cradling the newest addition to the family.

"She has hair like mine!" Abigail exclaimed.

"Yeah, how do two people with dark hair get a blonde kid?" Ryan asked teasingly, throwing a knowing look at Summer.

"Turn around, genius." Seth replied, nonplussed. "My mother's blonde, and so is Summer's dad…well, uh, he was."

Ryan smiled sheepishly at the older generation before turning back to the bed in the centre of the room.

…………………………

Seth opened the door carefully, peeking his head inside before fully entering the room. He couldn't help but smile softly as he took in the sight before him. The covers were pulled up to Summer's shoulders, her head leaned back against the pillow and eyes closed. Her hair was gathered in a messy ponytail, curls spilling over her pillow as Seth listened to her deep and easy breathing. He let the door close quietly behind him before making his way over to the bed and sitting gingerly on the edge; he didn't want to disturb his sleeping beauty, but he just couldn't resist reaching out to grasp her hand.

He was pleased when her fingers found his upon their own free will, entwining with his as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," she whispered, beaming up at him through sleepy eyes.

"Hey." Seth grinned at her, squeezing her hand gently. "I know I'm breaking my promise, but I just couldn't resist."

"What promise was that?" she asked sleepily.

"Well, about four hours ago, you forbade me to ever touch you again. Made me swear never to come near you."

"I did not…oh. I did, didn't I? Well, when you squeeze something that large out of an opening that small, we'll talk about who can touch who again, alright?" The glint in her eyes and the smile on her face belied her words.

Seth winced involuntarily at Summer's remark, and squeezed her hand again. He focused on the beautiful face beaming back at him, and felt himself choking up, not for the first time that morning. "I'm so proud of you," he managed to get out.

A tear leaked from the corner of her eye, and she smiled up at him, her free hand resting over their entwined ones. She replied simply, "I had some help."

"No, that was all you Jay…I was just along for the ride."

"Well, I was talking about the nurses and Dr. Montgomery, but I guess you did help a little bit too," Summer teased lightly. Seth chuckled and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. He rested his hand on her forehead, lightly brushing several stray curls out of her eyes as her expression turned more serious. "Really, Seth…I couldn't have gotten through that without you."

Seth could see that Summer was getting teary eyed again, causing his eyes to water a little too. It had been a very emotional, very exhausting day for them both, and Seth was still in awe that any of it was real. He leaned his forehead against hers, whispering huskily, "Hey, til death do us part, remember? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Summer's chin quivered, and two tears made their way down her cheeks. "I love you."

Seth smiled, "And I love you." He leaned in to kiss her, but a soft cry made them both sit back up.

They simultaneously turned away from one another, Summer to the plastic crib at her bedside, and Seth to the pram sitting next to his side of the bed.

"Eli, I'd like you to meet your sister, Sara." Seth turned back to his wife with a sleepy toddler in his arms.

Twenty-two-month-old Elijah Jacob Cohen rubbed his chocolate brown eyes sleepily, but instantly jerked awake when he saw the pink bundle his mother was holding.

"Sah-a!" He exclaimed, launching himself onto the bed. Fortunately Seth was well versed in his son's rocket impersonation and was able to prevent him squashing the newborn.

"Wait a second there, tiger." Seth placed his son gently in his wife's lap, holding him until Summer lowered their daughter into Elijah's lap and got a firm grip on the two of them.

"Baby." Elijah said, moving a finger towards his sister's face. Both Summer and Seth made to stop him poking her, but he touched her cheek with a gentleness that belied his not-quite-two year old status.

Seth and Summer looked at one another and smiled, Seth reaching his arms around his wife to hug all of his family.

If someone had told Summer in junior year of high school that she would be married with two kids a mere two years out of college she would have laughed, and probably slapped them.

But here she was, happier than she could have ever imagined all those years ago. Yes, Elijah had been a surprise graduation gift, and yes, he had been born out of wedlock, but neither of those facts mattered to the people whose opinions mattered to the couple. And although Summer wasn't proud of the fact that she had turned down Seth's marriage proposal twice before accepting the sincerity of the third time, she knew that it was a testament to their relationship that they hadn't broken up over it, that Seth listened, accepted and, best of all, understood her reasons for turning him down.

It had been Seth who convinced her to keep the baby, to make her see that she could still have a career and a baby, and a husband even. It was Seth who had given up a promising journalism career to be home with Elijah, working freelance from home while Summer worked long hours as an intern at a Boston law firm. It was Seth who rubbed her tired feet when she finally got home at 10 or 11pm, who massaged her shoulders while she bathed, who got up in the middle of the night to feed the newborn Elijah.

And it was Seth who allowed her to find herself, who loved Summer Jordan Cohen for _her_, not his idealistic version of her.

And for that she loved him.

THE END!

Finally, the end. Yes, the epilogue is written in a different style to the others, mostly because I wanted to be somewhat vague about the woman in labour at the beginning of the chapter – was it obvious it was Summer, or could it have been Kirsten?

For those of you neurotic enough to count years/months, yes I did calculate the dates (I'm neurotic also). Abigail was born in January of their senior year – as this was started after S1 I'm keeping with the theory that they were in junior year during that season (2004) – they graduated college in June 2009 and Elijah was born in November of the same year. Thus Sara is born in August 2011, Elijah is 21 months and Abigail is 6½.

And while I did originally ask for Jewish/Hebrew names, I decided that while Sandy and Kirsten definitely had to name their second child in the tradition of the first (Hebrew names with meaning – Seth Ezekiel means 'God will strengthen the appointed', while Abigail Eve means 'My father's life joy'), Seth and Summer would be a little less traditional. Elijah Jacob was actually the name I had picked out for Kirsten and Sandy's child when I made Kirsten pregnant, but you readers convinced me to let Kirsten have a little girl.

As for the question of how Seth (and Sophie in 416) can have brown eyes when both Kirsten and Sandy have blue eyes, it's apparently not as simple as we're all taught in high school biology. If you're interested this website has a pretty good explanation (replace 'dot' with a period): www(dot)thetech(dot)org/genetics/ask(dot)php?id29

Thank you _so_ much to everyone who has reviewed. I know every writer says they live for the reviews, and I'm no exception, but it really means a lot to know that your work is appreciated and brings some entertainment into the lives of others. Special thanks to the following people, who have reviewed almost every chapter of this story: Ansy Pansy aka Panz, friendsfan808, Doves30, kursk

So please let me know what you think. I have to say I was very disappointed in the lack of response to chapter 8, but then again it has had by far the least number of hits – probably my fault, taking five months to update. I will definitely respond to any signed reviews eventually, and am willing to answer any questions or queries you may have.


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